Seven Russian fuel tankers turned away from UK as workers refuse to take cargo

Russian tankers filled with fossil fuels have been forced to turn around after UK dockworkers refused to accept their cargo.

The seven ships carrying Russian oil, gas and diesel had to divert their deliveries to ports in France, Belgium and Holland where they were able to unload.

The dockers at the Isle of Grain in Kent, Milford Haven in Wales, Ellesmere Port in Merseyside and on the Isle of Orkney were reportedly determined not to fund Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine by accepting the deliveries.

Two tankers are still searching for a port that will accept them, according to MailOnline.

Yesterday, the UK announced it will ban imports of Russian oil and gas to put pressure on Putin to end his war.

After making the same decision in the US, President Joe Biden said the moves target “the main artery of Russia’s economy”.

The EU, who previously relied on Russia for roughly 40 percent of its gas has also planned to cut its energy imports by two-thirds in a year.

“By the end of this year, we can replace 100 billion cubic metres of gas imports from Russia. That is two-thirds of what we import from them,” EU Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans told reporters in Strasbourg, France, on Tuesday.

NATO's plans to become less dependent on Russian fossil fuels comes as The Kremlin threaten to cut its gas supplies to the West.

Russia's deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said: "In connection with unfounded accusations against Russia regarding the energy crisis in Europe and the imposition of a ban on Nord Stream 2, we have every right to take a matching decision and impose an embargo on gas pumping through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline."