The Russian Embassy has been trying to secure 3,000 litres of home heating oil from outside of the capital as companies refuse to deliver supplies.
The Irish Mirror exclusively revealed on Tuesday that the Dublin premises has written to the Government asking them for help as they are running short on fuel for hot water and heating.
An oil company source said: “The Russians were desperate and were looking for 3,000 litres of home heating oil as soon as possible. They would have been willing to make full payment up front before delivery. Money was no object, they would have paid anything.
READ MORE: Russian Embassy urges Irish government to intervene as it faces fuel shortage
"They were running out of oil and had little or no heating oil left up to the weekend. The Embassy has exhausted several oil companies in Dublin and then tried companies in greater Dublin and surrounding areas.”
The Irish Mirror understands this firm, after consultation with management, also refused to send fuel on account of the barbaric killings in Ukraine. The Russian Embassy has refused to say if it has since secured sufficient supplies of oil.
When asked about the situation, Tanáiste Leo Varadkar replied: “Sympathy for the Russian Government, Russian Embassy, I do not have.”
It’s understood the Irish Government was checking to see if it was obliged to step in and help under the Vienna Convention. But sources have said the Department of Foreign Affairs “can’t really force a company to do business with the Russians”.
The Russians have labelled the refusal of numerous oil companies to deliver fuel supplies as “discriminatory”. The letter was sent by the Embassy to Simon Coveney’s department on March 22.
When contacted by the Irish Mirror, the Russian Ambassador’s press secretary Nikita Isakin said: “The Embassy does not disclose details of its communications with the Department or any other third party.”
A Foreign Affairs spokesman stated: “The Department doesn’t comment on the operation of embassies.”
Speaking in the Dáil yesterday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he welcomes the European Commission’s ban on Russian coal imported into the European Union.
He added: “We have to continue to do everything that we can to keep the pressure on to stop this war.”
To get the latest political news and analysis to your inbox every week, sign up to Ciara Phelan's free Party Lines newsletter
