EU aims to ban Russian oil as Mariupol steel plant battle rages

As part of the EU's sixth round of sanctions against Russia, the body's newest proposal is targeting a total ban on oil imports. Sanctions against war criminals and three of Russia's largest banks are also listed as part of the toughest sanctions package yet.

Yesterday's proposal will need unanimous backing by the 27 EU countries to take effect, with the final decision expected to be made by the ambassadors within the next few days. Russia will presumably ramp up its Asian exports, but prices for crude oil have risen substantially - possibly counteracting the costs of losing the European market.

Russia has received about €62 billion from exports of oil, gas and coal in the two months since the invasion began, according to an analysis of shipping movements and cargos by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. For the EU, imports were about €44 billion for the past two months, compared with about €140 billion for the whole of last year.

The findings demonstrate how Russia has continued to benefit from its stranglehold over Europe’s energy supply, even while governments have frantically sought to prevent Vladimir Putin using oil and gas as an economic weapon.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the new package is aimed at maximising pressure on Russia while protecting European interests. It would take roughly six months for the oil imports to be terminated completely.

“We will make sure that we phase out Russian oil in an orderly fashion, in a way that allows us and our partners to secure alternative supply routes and minimises the impact on global markets,” von der Leyen assured.

This is quite a significant shift. Just two months earlier, the European Union stated that it would not be able to join Britain and the United States in their energy embargoes. Germany in particular heavily relies on Russian gas, but has recently come on board with the EU's hopeful move to rely further on renewable energy and imports of gas and oil from Qatar, Egypt, Canada and the US.

Germany is hoping to fast track the construction of an LNG terminal in the country, which would be the nation's first facility. Ireland currently gets 30% of its gas from the Corrib facility, with the rest imported from Scotland.

As the single largest consumer of Russian crude oil and fuel, the EU has been making efforts to lessen its contribution to one of the Kremlin's largest revenue streams. It has already pledged to reduce gas imports by two-thirds by the end of 2022 and now plans to phase out crude oil over six months and refined products by the end of 2022.

The majority of eastern bloc countries are reliant on Russia for more than half of their crude imports, a dependency as high as 90% in Slovakia. Such countries including Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic will be granted extended transition periods in order to find alternative suppliers.

The announcement didn’t mention Russian natural gas, a matter of increasing importance following last weeks cut offs in Poland and Bulgaria - who are currently scrambling to make up the loss. The Kremlin threatened the same consequence to other EU countries that refuse to pay in rubles.

Sixty per cent of Russia’s oil exports go to Europe — three times the quantity that goes to China — and pipeline infrastructure is predominantly geared towards carrying oil west. Since the war began, Russia has received 22 billion.

There will also be sanctions to outlaw broadcasts from RTR-Planeta and R2: "We have identified these TV channels as mouthpieces that amplify Putin's lies and propaganda aggressively," says the commission president.

Major banks, including Sberbank, Credit Bank of Moscow, and Russian Agricultural Bank will add to existing sanctions preventing global financial access. Sberbank is the country's largest bank - making up over a third of the banking sector. It is now set to be removed from the SWIFT global financial messaging system.

Von der Leyen also proposed a recovery plan for Ukraine once the conflict ends, saying hundreds of billions of euros were needed to rebuild the country. Of course, scientists have warned the EU for decades that it would drastically need to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and switch to wind and solar energy.

Finally, we now propose a ban on Russian oil.

Let´s be clear: it will not be easy.
But we simply have to work on it.

We will make sure that we phase out Russian oil in an orderly fashion.

To maximise pressure on Russia, while minimizing the impact on our economies pic.twitter.com/fH2wuKN5t2

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 4, 2022