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EU
leaders agreed in principle on Monday to cut 90% of oil imports
from Russia by the end of this year, the bloc's toughest
sanctions since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, which
Moscow calls a "special military operation".
"The European Union's decisions to partially phase out Russian
oil and oil products, as well as to ban insurance on Russian
merchant ships, are highly likely to provoke further price
increases, destabilize energy markets, and disrupt supply
chains," Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The 27-country EU has hit Russia with multiple rounds of
sanctions since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February,
demonstrating uncharacteristic speed and unity given the
complexity of the measures.
The Kremlin said on Thursday that the oil sanctions would hurt
global oil flows and destabilise the world's energy market.
"But, of course, Russia will not sell anything at a loss. If
somewhere demand is falling that means that in another place it
is increasing - the flows are re-routed," Kremlin spokesman
Dmitry Peskov told his daily conference call with reporters.
European Council President Charles Michel said the move to phase
out Russian oil would deprive Moscow of a huge source of
financing and put pressure on it to end its military campaign,
but Moscow warned that the measures would end up harming the
EU's economy.
"Brussels and its political sponsors in Washington bear full
responsibility for the risk of an exacerbation in global food
and energy issues caused by the illegitimate actions of the
European Union," Russia's foreign ministry said.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Frank Jack
Daniel and Catherine Evans)
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