EU to ban Russian oil - but no consensus on gas

MAY 4: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has just laid out details of another package of sanctions against Russia to be agreed by EU countries in the coming days.

Von der Leyen said the bloc was ending its dependency on Russian oil - with purchases banned by the end of the year.

She acknowledged that it would not be easy, as some countries were dependent on such imports.

Hungary has opposed an embargo on Russian fuels.

There is no consensus among the EU's 27 members on winding down the use of Russian natural gas - a fuel which has not yet been targeted by EU sanctions.

Germany is dependent on purchases from Moscow. As the chart below shows, it's the world's top buyer of Russian gas.

It's worth noting, though, that the data is from 2020 - since when Berlin has been reducing its reliance.

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