The European Parliament on Thursday called for an immediate halt to oil, coal, gas and nuclear fuel imports from Russia, as well as the complete abandonment of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.
A majority of members of the European Parliament (MEPs) voted in favour of the respective amendment, also calling on the European Commission and EU member states to present a plan for securing the bloc's energy supplies in the short term.
Some 413 MEPs voted in favour of the measure, 93 voted against it and 46 abstained.
"The massacre of Bucha and the other atrocities committed by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's army must not remain without consequences," said German Christian Democrat MEP Peter Liese.
"We must hit Putin and his oligarchs where it hurts them most. That happens to be the energy sector," he added.
Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi urged the EU to show the same willingness to act over energy supplies as it did during the pandemic.
Admitting that ending European dependency on Russian gas would be difficult, Draghi said that it could also be seen as an opportunity, given the current arrangements meant that Europe was propping up the Russian economy and indirectly financing the war.
In an earlier draft of the resolution, the European Parliament called for the restriction of key Russian exports to the EU, such as oil and gas.
However, EU sanctions can only be imposed with the unanimous agreement of all member states, and cracks are already beginning to show in the bloc's united front against Moscow, with disputes among member states delaying the adoption of a fifth major package of Russia sanctions on Thursday.
According to diplomats, Poland rejected a proposed one-month extension to the transition period for banning Russian coal imports that was supported by Germany.
As negotiations continued on Thursday afternoon, the new sanctions package was expected to be ready on Friday.
The tough fresh sanctions relate to the discovery of war crimes in villages just outside Kiev over the weekend, as Ukrainian troops re-entered the area following the withdrawal of Russian troops.
In its hopes to break free of Russian gas dependency as quickly as possible, Estonia announced that it would end Russian gas imports by the end of the year.
"We need to stop buying gas from Putin's regime as soon as possible because it is using the revenue from sales to finance its war against Ukraine," said Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.
According to the Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Estonia and Finland are planning to jointly build and operate a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal that they say will be operational by autumn, allowing them to increase their gas reserves and begin to reduce their dependence on Russian energy imports.
