European Union chief proposes ‘complete import ban on Russian oil’ within six months

The head of the bloc’s executive European Commission on Wednesday said that European Union countries will stop importing Russian oil and refined products. This comes in proposing a sixth round of sanctions against Moscow for waging a war on Ukraine.

“We will phase out Russian supply of crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year,” Ursula von der Leyen told the European Parliament, prompting applause from lawmakers.

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“This will be a complete import ban on all Russian oil, seaborne and pipeline, crude and refined,” she added.

“It will not be easy. Some member states are strongly dependent on Russian oil. But we simply have to work on it,” von der Leyen said of the proposal, which requires approval from all 27 EU countries to take effect.

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Meanwhile, India is reportedly trying to get deeper discounts on Russian oil to compensate for the risk of dealing with the OPEC+ producer as other buyers turn away.

India is seeking Russian cargoes at less than $70 a barrel on a delivered basis to compensate for additional hurdles such as securing financing for purchases in high level talks between the two countries.

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According to Bloomberg calculations based on trade ministry data, the state and private refiners in the world’s third-biggest oil importer have bought more than 40 million barrels of Russian crude since the invasion of Ukraine. That is 20% more than Russia-to-India flows for the whole of 2021.