EU plans Russian oil ban

The European Union gets about 25 percent of its oil from Russia, most of which goes toward gasoline and diesel for vehicles. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday called on the EU to ban oil imports from Russia and target the country’s biggest bank and major broadcasters. The move would require a unanimous vote from the 27 member nations.

Would new sanctions slow the war? The EU wants to remove Sberbank, Russia’s biggest bank, from SWIFT, the major global system for financial transfers. Von der Leyen said SWIFT is critical to Putin’s ability to wage war. Most of the other sanctions would take effect gradually to limit the harm to local and global markets, making their impact on Russia gradual, as well. Hungary and Slovakia have already said they will not take part in oil sanctions, but they could get an exemption.

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