EU says premature to discuss details of von der Leyen's proposal on tariffs on Russian oil

BRUSSELS. Sept 24 (Interfax) - It is too early to comment on details of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's statement about plans to increase tariffs on Russia oil, European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said.

"Yesterday in her press conference with President [of the U.S. Donald] Trump, [Ursula] von der Leyen referenced additional steps we intend to take. She talked about sanctioning ports where LNG is coming. This forms part of the 19th package. She said we want to increase tariffs on oil imports from Russia. The [European] Commission will present further details on this in due course," Gill said at a briefing in Brussels on Wednesday.

Answering a follow-up question, he said that the increase of tariffs on oil is not included in the 19th package of anti-Russian sanctions, because the approval of sanctions requires a unanimous vote by the European Union member states.

"Any proposal relating to tariffs on Russian oil would be adopted by qualified majority as a trade measure. I can't provide more details now beyond to say that we will in due course," Gill said.