The European Commission received a mandate to study the possibility of setting a price cap on gas imports from Russia, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said.

"The Commission received a mandate to study the feasibility of a gas price cap," Draghi told reporters in Brussels after the EU summit.

European Union leaders agreed on an embargo on Russian oil imports that will take effect closer to the end of the year. The embargo will not apply to countries that receive oil by pipeline and have no access to the sea - Hungary and two other Central European states.

"The obligation not to import Russian oil will also apply to us from the end of the year," Draghi said.