The European Union’s leader has called on the 27-nation bloc to ban oil imports from Russia in a sixth package of sanctions targeting Moscow for its war in Ukraine.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also proposed that Russia’s largest bank Sberbank and two other major banks be disconnected from the SWIFT international banking payment system. Von der Leyen was addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France on Wednesday.
She called on the EU’s member nations to phase out imports of crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year.
While the United States previously announced an embargo on Russian oil, much of Europe has not followed suit. Although very little oil from Russia makes its way to the U.S., Europe would be much more affected by such an embargo.
The United Kingdom, which plans on phasing out Russian oil imports this year, has seen gas prices reach over $6 per gallon in recent weeks. The cost of a gallon of gas in Germany topped $8 a month ago. A gallon of gas in France costs more than $7.
