BRUSSELS (AP) – EU leaders reached a compromise on Monday to impose a partial oil embargo on Russia at a summit aimed at helping Ukraine with a package of sanctions that Hong Kong blocked for a long time.
The diluted embargo only covers Russian oil supplied by sea, allowing a temporary exemption for imports delivered by pipeline.
EU Council President Charles Michel said on Twitter that the deal covers more than two-thirds of Russia’s oil imports, “cutting a major source of funding for its war machine. Russia to end the war. ”
The EU had already imposed five rounds of sanctions on Russia for its war. It has targeted more than 1,000 people, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and senior government officials, as well as pro-Kremlin oligarchs, banks, the coal sector and more.
But the sixth package of measures announced on May 4 had been hampered by concerns over oil supplies.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has made it clear that he could only support the new sanctions if his country’s security of oil supply is guaranteed. The landlocked country gets more than 60% of its oil from Russia and depends on crude oil coming through the Soviet-era Druzhba gas pipeline.
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BRUSSELS (AP) – EU leaders fought on Monday to agree to impose an oil embargo on Russia, as Ukraine’s president urged them to put aside their differences and pass a long-delayed package of sanctions. with the aim of accumulating more economic pressure on Moscow to stop the crisis. war.
The EU has already imposed five rounds of sanctions on Russia for its war. It is aimed at more than 1,000 people, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and senior government officials, as well as pro-Kremlin oligarchs, banks, the coal sector and more.
But a sixth package of measures, announced on May 4, has been hampered by oil supply concerns. The EU gets about 40% of its natural gas and 25% of its oil from Russia, and divisions are embarrassing the trading bloc of 27 nations and exposing the limits of their ambitions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, addressing EU leaders on Monday in a 10-minute video link, urged them to put an end to “internal arguments that only put Russia under increasing pressure. Europe “.
He said the sanctions package must be “agreed, it must be effective, including (on) oil”, so that Moscow “feels the price of what it is doing against Ukraine” and the rest of Europe. Only then, Zelenskyy said, will Russia be forced to “start seeking peace.”
It is not the first time he has called for the EU to focus on Russia’s lucrative energy sector and deprive Moscow of billions of dollars every day in supply payments.
But Hungary leads a group of EU countries, along with Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, which are heavily dependent on Russian oil and cannot afford to turn off the bombs. Hungary gets more than 60% of its oil from Russia and 85% from its natural gas.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was adamant in reaching a two-day summit in Brussels that no agreement was seen, while Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala suggested that delaying oil sanctions on Russia could be a solution.
“We are ready to get rid of our dependence on Russia’s energy sources … but we cannot do it in the short term,” Fiala said.
According to several diplomats, the leaders will try to reach an agreement for an EU embargo on Russian oil introduced by sea by the end of the year that would cover more than two-thirds of EU oil imports from Russia.
Orban said he could support the new sanctions if the security of Hungary’s oil supply is guaranteed. Hungary and Slovakia depend on Russian oil coming through the Soviet-era Druzhba gas pipeline.
The problem with getting Russian oil transported by sea is that countries such as Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, which are more dependent on it, would suffer rising oil prices, distorting competition because Hungary would continue to buy cheaper Russian oil. .
Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins urged his EU counterparts to overcome their differences over oil, saying member countries “are getting a little bogged down in every detail and we forget about the big picture”.
“It’s just money, and the Ukrainians are paying with their lives,” he said. “Only when Russia is defeated can we feel safe in Europe.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was cautiously optimistic. “Everything I hear sounds like a consensus can be reached, and sooner or later it will be,” he told reporters.
European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen ruled out almost a breakthrough at the summit, saying: “My expectations are low that it will be resolved in the next 48 hours.”
If adopted, the new sanctions package would also include a freeze on assets and a ban on people traveling. Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, would be excluded from SWIFT, the world’s leading global financial transfer system. Three major Russian state broadcasters will also be prevented from distributing their content in the EU.
The two-day summit will also focus on continued EU financial support to Ukraine – probably the endorsement of a € 9 billion ($ 9.7 billion) assistance tranche – and on military aid and war crimes investigations.
The issue of food security will be on the table on Tuesday, with leaders ready to encourage their governments to speed up work on “solidarity streets” to help Ukraine export grain and other products.
Protesters gathered in front of EU buildings on Monday ahead of the summit, with signs such as “No to Russian oil and gas.”
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Karel Janicek contributed to this story from Prague.
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