EU member states are still largely dependent on Russian oil and gas for their energy supplies, and imports of these resources cannot simply be cut over a short term, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Monday, Reuters reports.

“Too many refineries in Eastern and Western Europe are still completely dependent on Russian oil, and the gas situation is even worse,” Rutte told reporters after a meeting with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda in Vilnius.

“We need to reduce this dependency. We need to do it as soon as possible, but we can’t do it tomorrow,” the Dutch prime minister said.

According to Reuters, EU member states are considering a possible embargo on Russian oil, as European leaders meet with US President Joe Biden this week for a series of summits designed to strengthen the West’s response to Russia’s invasion, according to Agerpres.

So far, the Kremlin has not changed its plans in Ukraine, despite four rounds of EU sanctions in recent weeks. Under these conditions, the EU bloc has to make a difficult choice from an economic point of view regarding a possible sanctioning of Russian oil imports, as the USA and Great Britain have already done. But in the case of the EU, an embargo would be much more painful given Russia’s dependence on the EU energy bloc.

Diplomatic sources told Reuters that the Baltic countries are considering an embargo on Russian oil as the next logical step, while Germany believes that no hasty action should be taken, given the already high price of energy in Europe.

Moscow authorities have warned that possible EU sanctions on Russian oil could lead Russia to shut down Europe’s major gas pipelines. The EU depends on Russia for 40% of its natural gas needs, and Germany, Europe’s largest economy, is the most dependent on Russian gas. In addition, Germany is the largest buyer of Russian oil in the EU.