EU discusses Russian oil embargo as Biden prepares to join talks

European Union governments are discussing an oil embargo on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine as they gather this week with US President Joe Biden for a series of summits aimed at toughening the West’s response to Moscow.

In an attempt to force Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw his forces from Ukraine, the European Union, along with its Western allies, imposed a comprehensive set of sanctions, including freezing the assets of the Russian Central Bank.

European Union governments will hold discussions among foreign ministers on Monday before Biden arrives in Brussels on Thursday for summit meetings with 30 NATO allies as well as the European Union and G7 nations including Japan.

So far, four rounds of EU sanctions over the past three weeks have not caused the Kremlin to change course in Ukraine. The sanctions included 685 people from Russia and the Russian Federation and sanctions on Russian finance and trade.

This leaves the European Union with the most difficult economic choice: whether to target Russian oil, as the United States and Britain have done, but not the 27-nation European Union, given its dependence on Russian gas for energy.

Diplomats told Reuters that the Baltic states, including Lithuania, were urging a ban as the next logical step, despite Germany warning against rushing to take action due to already high energy prices in Europe.