EU embargo on Russian oil to be phased on over six months- reports

BRUSSELS. May 31 (Interfax) - The EU embargo on Russian oil imports will be phased and take effect within six months of sanctions being formally adopted, western media quoted an unnamed European Commission spokesperson as saying.

The ban on refined products will come into effect within eight months.

Thus, the petroleum embargo will be introduced according to the timeframe the EC proposed earlier in May.

EU leaders agreed an embargo on two-thirds of Russian oil imports in the early hours of May 31. They agreed that the sixth package of sanctions against Russia would apply to crude oil and refined products with the temporary exception of crude shipped by pipelines.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said oil would in effect be supplied only to certain southern countries by the Druzhba pipeline, which carries 10% of the oil that the EU imports from Russia.

European Council President Charles Michel said the agreed sanctions package includes de-Swifting the largest Russian bank, Sberbank, and banning three more Russian state-owned broadcasters.

It remains for the EU Council to adopt the sanctions.