Speaking to the German broadcaster ARD, he pledged that Berlin would also hammer out technical conditions so that his country can become independent of Russian gas imports "as quickly as possible".
"We work every day, indeed every day, and sometimes every night, to reduce dependence on Russian oil, coal, and gas. Every day, even every hour, we are one step closer to saying goodbye to Russian imports. If we succeed, then we will be independent of Russian coal by autumn, and by the end of the year we will be almost independent of Russian oil", Habeck said.
"We will end this dependence [on Russian oil, coal, and gas] as quickly as we can, but to do that from one day to the next would mean plunging our country and all of Europe into a recession", Scholz said, warning that "hundreds of thousands of jobs would be at risk, entire industries would be on the brink".
"The truth is that the sanctions that have already been decided also hit many citizens hard, and not just at the gas pump", Scholz stated, arguing that sanctions "must not hit the European countries harder than the Russian leadership".