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EC suggests EU "phase out" Russian oil, cut off three major Russian banks from SWIFT

Europe Materials 4 May 2022 16:41 (UTC +04:00)
EC suggests EU "phase out" Russian oil, cut off three major Russian banks from SWIFT

The European Commission (EC) has suggested that EU member states phase out Russian oil, cut three more major Russian banks, including Sberbank, off from the global payment system SWIFT, and ban three Russian state-owned broadcasters in the EU as part of the sixth package of sanctions against Moscow, EC President Ursula von der Leyen reported via Twitter and stated at the European Parliament session in Strasbourg on Wednesday, Trend reports with reference to TASS.

The European Commission submitted proposals on sanctions for consideration of permanent representatives of 27 EU countries on Wednesday, with the decision on them expected by the end of the week.

"We now propose a ban on Russian oil [imports]. <...> We will make sure that we phase out Russian oil in an orderly fashion," von der Leyen tweeted.

The exact parameters of the oil embargo, if it is passed, will become known after the EC’s proposals are approved by the European Union members. According to the information provided by diplomatic sources and European media outlets, the European Commission has suggested that EU nations refuse to import crude Russian oil within six months and to import petroleum products in 2023. Moreover, various terms of withdrawal from imports of tanker and pipeline oil are expected. The European Commission has also agreed to enable Hungary and Slovakia to continue buying Russian crude oil until the end of 2023 under existing contracts as exemptions from an oil embargo proposed in a bid to convince those countries not to veto the proposal.

"We de-swift Sberbank - by far Russia’s largest bank - and two other major banks," EC President wrote. Earlier, the Politico newspaper reported that apart from Sberbank sanctions within the sixth package might cover Credit Bank of Moscow and Rosselkhozbank.

"We are banning three big Russian state-owned broadcasters from our airwaves," she added without specifying their names.

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