According to a senior German government official, after days of negotiations. Economy Minister Robert Habeck made this statement while speaking to German broadcaster ZDF.
The EU will agree to a Russian oil embargo "within days". This will be the heaviest punishment in the sanctions package that the EU can give Putin.
In the meeting before the EU, it was not possible to come up with a ban on Russian oil imports when many European countries including Germany's brother and opposition came from Hungary.
However, Habeck's latest statement comes after significant opposition to the move from oil-dependent countries of Russia, such as Hungary.
Hungary is asking for energy investment before agreeing to support the embargo
This means Budapest has come into conflict with other EU states who are pushing for an immediate ban.
"We're going to have a breakthrough within the next few days," said Mr Habeck.
Brussels has come under pressure from Kyiv to limit Russian oil imports. When Putin is using the only remaining money to maintain the war in Ukraine in the context of Russian businesses and production crippled by sanctions.
About 25% of EU oil currently comes from Russia, and Brussels is hoping to eliminate all supply in the next six months.
It comes as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the Kremlin will focus on developing economic links with China rather than with the West. But now Xi Jinping is also being very cautious in relations with Russia for fear of sanctions. because China has a huge fortune in America.
In a speech, Lavrov accused the West of taking "the position of dictators".
“If they (the West) want to offer something in terms of resumption, then we will seriously consider whether we need it or not,” he said.
"Now that the West has become a 'dictator', our economic relations with China will develop even faster."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday urged Ukraine's allies to put pressure on Russia to accept a prisoner exchange. In particular, more than 200 soldiers had to surrender to Russia at the Azovstal steel factory.
Speaking in a question-and-answer video link to an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Zelensky said it was a "humanitarian issue."
“Changing people – this is a humanitarian issue today and a very political decision that depends on the support of many states,” he said.
"We are ready for an exchange even tomorrow."
"We don't need Russian soldiers, we just need ours.
US President Joe Biden also affirmed that the war in Ukraine is a global issue when speaking at the meeting of the "quad" of Indo-Pacific leaders.
"In international law, human rights must always be protected no matter where in the world they are violated."
"This is not just a European problem, it's a global problem," he said.
We can see that Putin miscalculated Europe and the world's response to Russia's war in Ukraine. He thinks Europe is divided by Brexit and cannot react strongly to his wrongdoing.
However, that has increased solidarity and made eastern European countries increasingly closer to the EU and Nato increasingly away from Russia.
The image of Russia has been greatly tarnished in this war and it will be a big blow to Putin as he can send Russia back decades and lose his power.
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