After weeks of difficult negotiations, European leaders have agreed to ban most imports of Russian crude and petroleum products by the end of this year. The ban will affect only seaborne oil, which accounted for about 65 percent of Russian supplies. Imports via the Druzhba oil pipeline have been exempted, but a number of the EU members will independently abandon it.
The European Union is trying to isolate Russia through sanctions in response to Moscow's military operation in Ukraine, ignoring the consequences on the bloc itself.