EU leaders have backed a partial embargo on Russian oil following overnight talks at a summit in Brussels. The sanctions will immediately affect 75% of Russian oil imports with the aim of banning 90% of all Russian oil imported into Europe by the end of the year, officials said. European Council President Charles Michel praised the agreement as a “remarkable achievement” that would put “maximum pressure on Russia to end the war”. The compromise excludes the Druzhba pipeline from the oil embargo and exempts deliveries arriving in Europe by pipeline, after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán warned that stopping supplies would destroy his country’s economy.
The latest package of sanctions also includes removing access to Swift payments for Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank; ban three more Russian state broadcasters; and more sanctions against “people responsible for war crimes in Ukraine.”
European Council President Charles Michel addressed speculation of disunity in the EU in the days leading up to the agreement. “There has been speculation in recent hours and in recent days about the lack of European unity,” he told reporters. “We do not underestimate all the difficulties. We know we need a few weeks before we can make a decision. “
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously lamented the delay in imposing tougher sanctions on EU leaders against Vladimir Putin. “The pause to agree on new sanctions in Europe has been too long,” he said.
The European Council added that it is ready to provide Ukraine with 9 billion euros to help with its post-war reconstruction. The Council “will continue to assist Ukraine with its immediate liquidity needs along with the G7,” European Council President Charles Michel said Monday night. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that Ukraine needed 5 billion euros a month just to maintain basic services and “… to give Ukraine a fair chance to rise from the ashes.”
Zelenskiy claims that Russia is blocking the export of 22 million tons of grain from Ukrainian ports and warned that it poses a threat of famine. “Russia’s blockade on our exports is destabilizing the situation on a global scale,” he said in his latest national speech. Zelenskiy added that Russian forces “have already stolen at least half a million tons of grain” and “are now looking for ways to sell it illegally somewhere.”
The situation in the Donbas remains “extremely difficult,” Zelenskiy said, adding that Russian troops bombed Kharkiv again on Monday. “The territory of our Sumy region was also bombed across the border between Ukraine and Russia,” he said.
Russian tanks and troops began advancing on Sievierodonetsk, the largest city in the Donbass that still occupies Ukraine, sparking street fighting on Monday. Regional Governor Serhiy Gaidai described the battles as “tough” and said the fighting was “very fierce”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and said that if sanctions were lifted, Russia could “export significant volumes of fertilizers and agricultural products.”
Joe Biden has said that the US will not supply Ukraine with long-range rockets capable of reaching Russia. Ukraine has called for a 300-kilometer (185-mile) multi-launch rocket system (MLRS) to offset the increasingly effective use of Moscow’s long-range artillery.
France is ready to increase military aid to Ukraine. Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on Monday that France “will continue to strengthen arms deliveries” while visiting Kyiv.
Belarus will conduct military mobilization exercises in June and July in the Gomel region, according to state news agency BelTA.
Russia will stop supplying gas to the Netherlands from tomorrow after the government-backed trader GasTerra refused to pay supplier Gazprom in rubles. About 44% of Dutch energy use is based on gas, but only about 15% of Dutch gas comes from Russia, according to government data.
The Georgian separatist region of South Ossetia has ruled out plans to hold a referendum to join Russia scheduled for July 17. The chairman of the Moscow-controlled enclave, Alan Gagloev, warned of the “uncertainty of the legal consequences of the subject of the referendum,” according to a report by Agence France-Presse.
French journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, 32, was killed after an armored evacuation vehicle he was traveling in was hit by shrapnel from a Russian howitzer in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk. as reported by the Ukrainian and French authorities. France has called for an investigation into the journalist’s death while Zelenskiy offered his “sincere condolences” to his colleagues and family.
The first alleged case of rape by a Russian soldier has been sent to court, said the Attorney General of Ukraine. The military will be tried for allegedly murdering the victim’s husband and for “sexual violence against his wife,” Iryna Venediktova said.
The Kalush Orchestra, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest, auctioned off its trophy to raise money for the Ukrainian army. The band, whose song Stefania won in Turin earlier this month, said she raised $ 900,000 (£ 713,000) by auctioning off the glass microphone and another $ 370,000 by raffling off the pink hat worn by leader Oleh. Psiuk during the performance.