The European Commission has proposed to tighten EU sanctions against Russia due to a special military operation in Ukraine, imposes an oil embargo, BBC reports.
“We propose to give up Russian oil in six months and oil products by the end of this year,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the European Parliament, presenting the sixth package of sanctions.
The West has imposed the largest sanctions on Russia in history, with the aim of pushing Russia back decades to prevent the financing of the largest military operations in Europe since World War II.
According to the West, the European oil embargo is an extreme measure that will force President Putin to make peace. The oil and gas sector gives Russia about half of its budget revenues, more than half of its exports. Moscow sells 70% of its gas to Europe alone, 60% of its oil and oil products. During the two and a half months of the war, the EU paid Russia more than 20 billion euros for oil and more than 30 billion euros for gas.
Von der Leyen said that in addition to the sixth package, other sanctions are envisaged: the separation of Russia's largest Сбербанк from SWIFT, the ban on broadcasting three Russian TV channels, and the expansion of sanctions lists.
It is possible that the EU will maintain the implementation of the new package until the next escalation of the war, which some experts expect on May 9.
