Europe may ban Russian oil ‘within days’

Germany announced that the European Union is likely to agree to a ban on Russian oil imports “within days”. At the same time, Moscow said it would work to strengthen its economic ties with China after it fell under the guillotine of Western isolation over its invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told global business leaders in Davos on Monday that the world should increase sanctions on Russia to deter other countries from using “brute force” to achieve their goals.

Many of the European Union’s 27 member states are highly dependent on Russian energy, prompting criticism from Kyiv that the bloc did not move fast enough to halt supplies.

Hungary stuck to its demands on Monday for energy investments before agreeing to such a ban. After that, however, it clashed with European Union countries that lobbied for quick approval of the punitive measure. The European Union has offered up to 2 billion euros ($2.14 billion) to central and eastern Europe countries that lack non-Russian supplies.