The decision to impose an embargo on supplies of Russian oil, if adopted, will seriously affect the world market, impair the EU nations’ access to energy and hit everyone, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday, TASS reports.
He warned that Europeans "will have a hard time" as a result.
When asked to comment on the possibility of such sanctions and their likely consequences, he said:
"Indeed, as far as we know, they are actively discussing imposing an embargo on the supply of [Russian] oil. This topic is very complicated, because such an embargo will have an impact, and will very seriously affect the global oil market in general."
The Kremlin official noted that such a decision "will seriously worsen the energy balances on the European continent."
"The Americans will remain on their own, this is obvious, and will feel much better off than Europeans. The Europeans will have a hard time. This is probably a decision that will hit everyone," Peskov summed up.
On Monday, Reuters reported, citing diplomatic sources, that the EU is working on its fifth package of sanctions targeting Russia, due to the events in Ukraine. In particular, the EU diplomats told the news agency that the Baltic states, including Lithuania, are insisting on the introduction of an oil embargo against Moscow. However, Germany is warning against taking hasty steps, because current energy prices are high in Europe.
On Monday, Brussels will host a scheduled meeting of the EU ministers of foreign affairs and defense. The main topic on their agenda is the situation in Ukraine. EU High Representative Josep Borrell is scheduled to present his analysis of possible scenarios for the development of the conflict.
