Russia may increase its crude oil exports if the European Union ban on imports of the nation’s fuel results in lower refinery throughput, vice prime-minister Alexander Novak said in an interview to Tass.

"It feels like they are just trying to make a decision for the sake of a decision - not for effect, but just for a show that the cap has been introduced," Dmitry Peskov noted.

The European Union is set to target Russian gold exports in an update to its sanctions packages while further tightening previous measures on Moscow amid the continuing war in Ukraine.

the idea to get Big Tech to chip in to ease the burden on telecoms operators has also kicked off a fierce lobbying fight that has pitched Big Tech against Big Telecoms in Brussels.

An agreement in the European Council on the latest round of sanctions against Russia came only after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbàn demanded a deal that allows his country to import Russian oil even if the pipeline across Ukraine to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic is blocked.