The EU could ban crude oil imports from Russia within six months if a new round of sanctions is approved. Excluding a handful of countries, refined Russian oil products like petrol and diesel could cease to flow into the EU by the end of 2022.
The EU currently relies on Russia for 25% of the oil it imports, so the ban is intended to hurt Russian oil producers and weaken Vladimir Putin’s regime economically. If some of those fossil fuels and the machinery they power were replaced by green alternatives, scrapping oil supplies could benefit the climate too. And there’s a lot more to look forward to in a world with less oil sloshing around.
