German Finance Minister Christian Lindner wants Europe's biggest economy to stop imports of Russian oil and gas as soon as possible, but it is not feasible immediately, he told Die Zeit weekly.

"If I followed my heart, there would be an immediate embargo on everything," Lindner was quoted as saying, adding there could be no normal economic relations with a Russia whose government was waging a criminal war against Ukraine.

"That is why Germany will give up Russian oil and gas," he said, adding, however, that such a move would risk German economic and social stability.

"We can't be responsible for that," he said.

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers, Editing by Miranda Murray)