EU tightens the noose on Russia

Brussels has proposed a ban on all Russian oil imports. Could that work? Emily Hohler reports

Vladimir Putin
Every penny spent on Russian oil makes him stronger
(Image credit: © Dmitry Azarov/Kommersant/Sipa USA)

Brussels has proposed a phased-in ban on all Russian oil imports as EU member states seek to reach agreement on a sixth package of sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the ban would be implemented in an “orderly fashion”, halting crude within six months and refined products by the end of the year. She also proposed that Sberbank, Russia’s biggest bank, along with the Credit Bank of Moscow and the Russian Agricultural Bank, be disconnected from the international banking payment system Swift and that three Russian state-owned broadcasters should be banned for amplifying Putin’s “lies and propaganda”.

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Emily Hohler
Politics editor

Emily has worked as a journalist for more than thirty years and was formerly Assistant Editor of MoneyWeek, which she helped launch in 2000. Prior to this, she was Deputy Features Editor of The Times and a Commissioning Editor for The Independent on Sunday and The Daily Telegraph. She has written for most of the national newspapers including The Times, the Daily and Sunday Telegraph, The Evening Standard and The Daily Mail, She interviewed celebrities weekly for The Sunday Telegraph and wrote a regular column for The Evening Standard. As Political Editor of MoneyWeek, Emily has covered subjects from Brexit to the Gaza war.

Aside from her writing, Emily trained as Nutritional Therapist following her son's diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes in 2011 and now works as a practitioner for Nature Doc, offering one-to-one consultations and running workshops in Oxfordshire.