European Union leaders agreed Monday to embargo most Russian oil imports into the bloc before the end of the year. or as part of the new sanctions on Moscow; crafted at a summit focused on helping Ukraine with a long-delayed new financial support package.
The embargo covers Russian oil brought by sea, allowing a temporary exemption for imports delivered by pipeline, a move that was crucial in getting landlocked Hungary to participate in a decision It required consensus.
EU Council President Charles Michel said the deal covers more than two-thirds of Russia’s oil imports. Ursula Von der Leyen, head of the EU executive branch, said the punitive measure “will reduce effectively about 90% of Russia’s oil imports into the EU by the end of the year.”
Michel said the leaders also agreed to provide Ukraine with a 9 billion euro ($9.7 billion) aid tranche to support the economy of the war-torn country. It was unclear whether the money would come in the form of grants or loans.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, responded by saying: He responded to the EU’s decision on Twitter, saying: “As you said yesterday, Russia will find its way. other importers”.
The new sanctions package will also include: An asset freeze and a travel ban for individuals will be imposed, while Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, will be left behind. excluded from SWIFT, the world’s leading financial transfer system from which the EU has banned it. previously to several smaller Russian banks. Three large Russian state broadcasters will not be able to distribute their content in the EU.
“We want to stop Russia’s war machine,” Michel said, praising what he called a “remarkable achievement.”
“More than ever it is important to show that we can be strong, that we can be firm, that we can be tough”, he added.
Michel said the new sanctions, which needed the support of all 27 member countries, would be legally endorsed on Wednesday.
The EU had already imposed five previous rounds of sanctions on Russia for its war. It has addressed more than 1,000 people individually, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and top government officials, as well as such as pro-Kremlin oligarchs, banks, the coal industry and more.
But the sixth package of measures announced on May 4 was stalled by concerns about oil supply.
The dead end embarrassed the He joined the bloc, which was forced to scale back its ambitions to break Hungarian resistance. When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed the package, the initial goal was to phase out crude oil imports within six months and refined products by the end of the year.< /p>
Both Michel and von der Leyen said the leaders will soon revisit the issue, seeking to ensure that pipeline oil exports from Russia to the EU are banned at a later date.
< The Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, had made it clear that he could support the new sanctions only if the security of his country’s oil supply was guaranteed. Hungary gets more than 60% of its oil from Russia and relies on crude that comes through the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline.
Von der Leyen had downplayed the chances of a breakthrough at the summit. But the leaders reached a compromise after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged them to put an end to “internal arguments that only prompt Russia to put more and more pressure on all of Europe.”
The EU gets about 40% of its natural gas and 25% of its oil from Russia, and divisions over the issue exposed the limits of the 27-nation trading bloc’s ambitions.
In his 10-minute video address, Zelenskyy told leaders to put an end to “internal arguments that only prompt Russia to put more and more pressure on all of Europe.”
He said that the sanctions package must be “agreed, must be effective, including (on) oil”, so that “feel the price of what is doing against Ukraine” and the rest of Europe. Only then, Zelenskyy said, will Russia come into its own. forced to “start looking for peace”.
It was not the first time he demanded that the EU target Russia’s lucrative energy sector and deprive Moscow of its power. billions of dollars every day in supply payments.
But Hungary led the way. A group of EU countries concerned about the impact of the oil ban on their economy, including Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. Hungary is heavily dependent on Russia for energy and cannot afford to turn off the pumps. In addition to its need for Russian oil, Hungary gets 85% of its natural gas from Russia.
Coming to the summit in Brussels, Orban had insisted that there was no ; to an agreement in sight, and emphasized that Hungary needed to secure its energy supply.
Von der Leyen and Michel said the commitment by Germany and Poland to phase out Russian oil by the end of the year and give up oil Oil from the northern part of the Druzhba pipeline will help to reduce 90% of Russian oil imports.
The issue of food security will be at the forefront. on the table on Tuesday, with leaders set to encourage their governments to speed up work on “solidarity lanes” to help Ukraine export grain and other products.