The European Commission (EC), within the framework of the sixth package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, which is being prepared, considers it necessary to ban the import of all Russian oil to the EU, the head of the EC, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Wednesday.
“Today we will propose a ban on all Russian oil in Europe. This will be a complete ban on the import of oil from the Russian Federation, delivered by sea and through pipelines, crude and refined oil,” she said.
At the same time, she acknowledged that it would not be easy to take this step due to the serious dependence of a number of EU members on Russian oil, but the EU “simply must go for it.”
According to her, the embargo on Russian oil should be introduced “neatly” in order to give the EU time to find alternative oil suppliers and minimize the impact of sanctions on oil markets. She noted that the refusal of oil and refined petroleum products from the Russian Federation should take six months and be completed by the end of 2022.
The day before, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, expressed confidence that the EU countries would agree to the imposition of new sanctions against Russia in the coming days.
In turn, Politico reported, citing unnamed EU diplomats, that the European Commission will propose transitional measures or an exception to oil sanctions for Slovakia and Hungary, given the degree of their dependence on Russian oil and the difficulty in finding alternative suppliers.
