European Union unlikely to impose an oil embargo on Russia, sources say

A general view of oil tanks in the Transneft-Kozmino Port near the far eastern town of Nakhodka, Russia.

The European Union is unlikely to impose an immediate oil embargo on Russia, according to two CNBC sources with knowledge of the discussions.

The U.S. banned imports of the commodity earlier this month, but international allies have refused to do so because of their dependence on Russian energy. Russian oil imports accounted for 25% of the EU's oil purchases in 2020.

The EU's reluctance in taking action against Russian oil caused a dip in prices on Tuesday. In early trading hours, the price of oil fell.

Germany and Hungary are concerned about what this step would mean for prices because they are among the most vocal supporters of restricting the purchases of Russian oil.

An EU official who didn't want to be named told CNBC Tuesday that a minority of countries are in favor of an oil embargo.

A second anonymous EU official said that there was no decision likely this week unless Putin did something crazy.

European leaders will meet in Brussels later this week to coordinate their response to the invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. President will be in attendance.

The possibility of Russia using chemical weapons in Ukraine has recently been highlighted by the U.S. The West believes that the accusations could actually be Moscow inventing and building a false narrative and pretext for using its own.

The first EU official said nothing would be off the table if Russia used chemical weapons.

The same official said that an oil ban could be one of the options if Russia uses chemical weapons.

Pressure continues to mount on the bloc to take more action against Moscow as the war in Ukraine drags on.

Simon Coveney, Ireland's foreign affairs minister, said it was hard to make the case that we shouldn't be moving into the energy sector.

The Minister for European Affairs, Tytti Tuppurainen, said Tuesday that they have not agreed on sanctions for energy.

According to a draft document seen by CNBC, EU leaders are expected to call for an international conference to raise more funding for Ukraine. The EU will soon announce that they are ending their dependency on Russian gas, oil and coal imports.