German officials have said the nation is now ready to stop buying Russian oil, the The Wall Street Journal reportedopening the door for the European Union to impose a new round of sanctions on Moscow.

At a meeting on Wednesday, German officials said they would withdraw their earlier objections to a full Russian oil embargo, as long as Berlin had time to find alternatives to Russian supplies.

Germany’s pivot follows a new deal with Poland that will allow it to import oil from other global suppliers through Gdansk, a Polish Baltic Sea port, government officials said on Wednesday.

This port’s infrastructure allows for a direct replacement of Russian supplies as it connects to the PCK oil refinery in Schwedt, Germany, they said. Allowing imports of alternative oil to reach Schwedt was key to Germany lifting its opposition to an embargo.

Germany has already reduced its consumption of Russia, which now accounts for 12% of Germany’s oil consumption, compared to 35% before Vladimir Putin launched his war against Ukraine, the German minister said this week. Economics, Robert Habeck.

A full EU embargo on Russian oil could signal a further escalation in the economic conflict unfolding between the Western world and Moscow, which have used energy markets to try to punish each other.

The EU has already announced a ban on Russian coal and sanctioned various sectors of the Russian energy industry. But the oil and gas kept flowing, and Moscow retaliated by demanding payments in rubles.

On Wednesday, Russia cut off the supply of natural gas to Bulgaria and Poland after both countries refused to pay in rubles.