EU to mull Russian oil embargo with Biden set to join talks – Reuters

YEREVAN, MARCH 21, ARMENPRESS. EU governments will consider whether to impose an oil embargo on Russia over its attack on Ukraine as they gather this week with U.S. President Joe Biden for a series of summits designed to harden the West's response to Moscow, according to Reuters.

"We are working on a fifth round of sanctions and many new names are being proposed," a senior EU diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the discussions are not public.

EU governments will take up the discussion among foreign ministers on Monday, before Biden arrives in Brussels on Thursday for summits with NATO's 30 allies, as well as the EU and in a Group of Seven (G7) format including Japan.

Moscow launched what it describes as a “special military operation” in late February against Ukraine following a seven-year standoff over Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk ceasefire agreements, and Russia's eventual recognition of the Donbass republics in Donetsk and Lugansk.

Russia demands that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country and that it will never join NATO. Kiev says the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it had been planning to retake the Donetsk and Lugansk republics by force.