Among the measures to be adopted by the EU, the Ukrainian president requested that progress be made on an embargo on Russian oil
FILE PHOTO: European Union flags in front of the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, August 21, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman – RC2BII9C2J0U
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky on Monday asked the leaders of the European Union (EU) to maintain the bloc’s unity against Russia, cease internal disputes and approve the bloc’s sixth package of sanctions, including an embargo on Russian oil.< /p>
“You have to put an end to all the quarrels in Europe, internal disputes that only encourage Russia to exert more and more pressure on you”, Zelensky said for videoconference at an EU summit held in Brussels
“It is time that they are not divided, not fragmented, but a united whole”, he pointed out .
Zelensky’s participation lasted just over 10 minutes and contrary to the speech he had given at the last summit, when he personally referred to each European leader, this time he addressed the leaders of the bloc in general.
Zelensky thanked “everyone who is promoting the sixth package of sanctions and trying to make it effective. Unfortunately, however, for some reason we are still at that point.”
“It is evident that there must be progress in the sanctions for the aggression. And for us it is very necessary”, he added.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky
The sixth package of sanctions proposed by the European Commission against Russia includes, among other measures, the controversial embargo on European imports of Russian oil, an idea that crashed with the inflexible opposition of Hungary, which fears for its safety energy.
The idea launched to break the stalemate is to proceed with an embargo in two phases, the first of which would focus on Russian oil that reaches the EU via maritime.
According to a European source, this measure would affect two-thirds of Russian oil imports into the bloc.
According to this plan, a second phase would be adopted, focused on crude that arrives by pipeline , although the details in particular about the deadlines would be negotiated “later”, according to a European diplomat.
That political agreement to implement that plan in two chapters would be reached “probably this week,” he added.
However, arriving at the meeting in Brussels Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that “there are no commitments at the moment, and therefore there is no agreement”.
In Orban’s view, the idea of a two-stage embargo is “not bad”.
General view showing a local refinery during sunset sun in Omsk, Russia. March 16, 2022. REUTERS/Alexey Malgavko
Hungary, a landlocked country, imports 65% of the oil it consumes from Russia through the Druzhba pipeline and , along with Slovakia and the Czech Republic, have requested an exception to the import ban.
That pipeline runs through Ukraine, and Orban fears that the Zelensky government will cut off that supply in retaliation for Hungary’s stance on the embargo.
Therefore, he said Orban,Hungary wants to obtain “guarantees that in the event of an accident with the oil pipeline passing through Ukraine (…) we have the right to obtain oil from Russia from other sources.”.
Meanwhile, the Estonian Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, was frank about the chances that at this summit the leaders will announce a definitive position on the proposed embargo on Russian oil.
“ I don’t think we will reach an agreement today,” said Kallas, who pointed out that it would be “more realistic” to wait for that understanding at the next European summit, scheduled for the end of June.
A draft of the summit declaration, to which AFP had access, mentions only that EU leaders call for the adoption “without delay” of the sixth package of sanctions, including the embargo “with a temporary exemption for crude oil delivered by pipeline”, without going into details.
In addition to the controversial oil embargo, the EU’s sixth plan of measures against Russia It also includes the withdrawal of more banks from that country from the Swift interbank network and the inclusion of new names in the list of Russian officials. you are sanctioned.
(With information from AFP)