Such an embargo would be one of the last remaining trade weapons that the US and its allies could deploy against Vladimir Putin’s regime.
The prospect of such a ban sent the price of Brent crude to as high as $139.13 per barrel at one point overnight, the highest since July 2008, while the price of natural gas at one point today hit 800p per therm – which, to put it in context, is four times the level it was prior to Mr Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
