The embargo was announced by the foreign ministers of Ireland, Lithuania and the Netherlands, despite the fact that there was no corresponding agreement to ban oil.
Many foreign ministers who met today in Luxembourg expressed support for sanctions on Russia’s oil imports. As EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell noted, such a ban could be an “asymmetric shock” for some countries, but the bloc agreed to step up arms supplies to Ukraine.
“They are now working to make oil part of the next round of sanctions,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said.
Russian oil makes up about a quarter of the EU’s crude oil imports and is seen as the EU’s next sanctions move to demand that Russia end its war in Ukraine.
“Nothing is out of the question, including sanctions on oil and gas,” Borrell said.
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