The international trade dispute has drawn widespread condemnation and threatened to disrupt the relative peace in Northern Ireland since the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in Belfast.
Pipeline deliveries, which are critical to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, won't be affected by the ban. The much more complicated issue of Russian natural gas remains unresolved.
The move has to be adopted unanimously, and Hungary — with a state oil company dependent on Russian imports and a populist leader friendlier toward Putin than most — has refused to go along.
It was seen as a way for Russia to prop up its currency and retaliate for Western sanctions, but it could cause global energy prices to spike. One analyst sees it as a warning to the rest of Europe.
One of Europe's poorest countries, Moldova has a separatist region that hosts 1,500 Russian troops. Since the Ukraine war, Moldova's applied to join the EU, even as it keeps a policy of neutrality.
