BRUSSELS: European Union envoys are set to approve on Thursday a ban on Russian coal that would take full effect from mid-August, a month later than initially proposed, an EU source told Reuters, after pressure from Germany to delay the measure.

The phase-out of EU imports of Russian coal is the cornerstone measure in a fifth package of sanctions against Russia that the EU Commission proposed this week, as a reaction to atrocities in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.

Once approved, it will be the EU's first ban on any import of energy from Russia since the start of what the Kremlin calls a "special operation" in Ukraine on February 24.

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Oil and gas, which represent far bigger imports from Moscow, are still untouched.