Sainsbury’s has pledged to stop selling Russian diesel from its petrol stations by the end of the year after calls from its customers.

The supermarket group confirmed the commitment on Thursday to halt such sales across its 315 petrol forecourts in line with the UK’s action against Russian oil imports.

It added that it had been working closely with its suppliers to reduce the amount of diesel it sources from Russia but now plans to end its use entirely.

This is a complex process but we are committed to working together with the rest of the UK fuel industry and Government to support the ban on Russian oil imports

It comes amid pressure on retailers and energy firms to shake off their reliance on Russia for certain products after the country launched an assault on Ukraine in February.

Russia is the third-biggest oil producer in the world behind Saudi Arabia and the United States.

In March, the Government announced that it planned a phased end of the import of Russian oil by the end of the 2022.

Rhian Bartlett, food commercial director at Sainsbury’s, said: “We stand united with the people of Ukraine and have taken a range of steps to show our support – from helping to fund the humanitarian effort on the ground, to removing products from our stores which are 100% sourced from Russia.

“We have been working hard to reduce the amount of diesel we sell which comes from Russia since the early days of the conflict.

“This is a complex process but we are committed to working together with the rest of the UK fuel industry and Government to support the ban on Russian oil imports, which is due to take effect by the end of this year.”