European Commission President proposes total embargo on Russian oil

The President of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, proposed on Wednesday that European governments impose a total embargo on Russian oil, proposing a transitional period until the end of the year to prepare alternative supply routes.

"Let's be clear, it won't be easy. Some member states are heavily dependent, but we must simply work on it. We propose from now on a ban on Russian oil, a total ban on imports of all Russian oil," the head of the EU executive asked at the plenary session of the European Parliament meeting in Strasbourg, France, according to Infobae.

This break with Russian oil would be done in an "orderly" manner to allow Member States and their partners time to seek alternative ministerial channels and avoid the impact on markets.

Von der Leyen also proposed to exclude Russia's Sberbank, the country's largest bank, and two other banks from the SWIFT interbank system as part of her new sanctions against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

"We are going to disconnect Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, which accounts for about 37% of the entire Russian financial system, and two other major banks from SWIFT. Thus, we hit banks that are critical to the Russian financial system and Putin's ability to undertake its destruction," the president of the European Commission said.

In addition, she asked to sanction the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, according to documents consulted Wednesday by AFP.

A new list of sanctioned individuals, which has yet to be approved by member states, includes 58 people, including Kirill, many Russian military personnel, as well as the wife, daughter, and a son of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

"We will punish high-ranking military and other individuals who committed war crimes in Bucha and who are responsible for the inhumane siege of the city of Mariupol," Von der Leyen said.

According to documents consulted by AFP, Kirill is described as a "long-time ally of President Vladimir Putin and became one of the main supporters of military aggression" in Ukraine.

Patriarch Kirill, also called Cyril I, is the top leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, which has more than 150 million followers worldwide, especially in Russia.

These measures proposed by Von der Leyen are in addition to those imposed against 680 Russian individuals and 53 entities related to the invasion of Ukraine that the European Union has been enforcing since the end of February.