German Chancellor Olaf Scholz believed that “the purpose of sanctions against Russia is to force her to end this war, withdraw her forces and sit down with the relevant parties to negotiate peace.”

His comments came after European Union leaders approved a 300 billion euro ($321 billion) European Commission plan to replace Russian fossil fuels.

“The sixth package of sanctions, which includes a ban on Russian oil imports until the end of the year, will help ensure that Russia pays for the consequences of its actions,” Schultz said at a press conference after a two-day special EU summit in the Belgian capital of Brussels. He stressed that “recent sanctions against Russia have presented a clear picture of European unity and demonstrated great solidarity with Ukraine.”

On the first day of the summit, EU leaders reached a political agreement on the sixth package of sanctions imposed by the countries of the bloc against Russia.

Under the deal, EU countries will cut 90 percent of Russia’s oil imports by the end of the year, but will exempt pipeline crude oil as a major concession to Hungary.

Financially, EU countries have agreed to exclude Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, from the SWIFT system for international money transfers.

As far as the media is concerned, the sanctions prevent three new Russian state radio stations from broadcasting in the European Union.