European Parliament votes for immediate and full import ban on Russian fossil fuels

The European Parliament has overwhelmingly upheld a call for a swift and full embargo on Russian oil, gas, coal and nuclear fuel imports.

The resolution was approved on Thursday with 413 votes in favour, 93 against and 46 abstentions and goes much further than a raft of new sanctions proposed by the European Commission this week that only targeted coal imports.

The text of the resolution calls on the commission “to consider without delay the introduction of import ban measures to make sure that trade with Russia does not contribute in any way to the financing of the war against Ukraine, including imports of fossil fuels, steel and raw materials”.

The resolution also calls on the EU bodies to ban the trade in diamonds with Russia and for a ban on the participation of Russian companies in public procurement at EU level.

The vote follows closely the discussions held days prior during the plenary session on the review of the EU Council spring summit, where Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen and EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell called for further pressure on the Kremlin.

“We must close the loopholes, we must target any attempt to circumvent sanctions. We are ready to move forward with further robust sanctions.” Michel had said.

The package proposed by the commission includes a ban on coal from Russia, worth €4 billion a year, a full transaction ban on four Russian banks, a ban on Russian vessels and Russian operated vessels from accessing EU ports, and a ban on Russian and Belarussian road transport.