Oil major Shell said Tuesday it will stop buying Russian oil and natural gas as well as shut down its service stations and other operations in the country amid international criticism for doing business with Moscow.
Shell had earlier defended its decision to buy a heavily-discounted consignment of oil from Russia, saying it would commit the profits to a fund dedicated to humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
On Tuesday, however, it said it would withdraw from all Russian hydrocarbons, including crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas, and liquefied natural gas, “in a phased manner.”
The decision comes just days after Ukraine's foreign minister criticized Shell for continuing to buy Russian oil, lashing out at the company for continuing to do business with President Vladimir Putin's government.
“We are acutely aware that our decision last week to purchase a cargo of Russian crude oil to be refined into products like petrol and diesel — despite being made with security of supplies at the forefront of our thinking — was not the right one and we are sorry," Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said.
