At an extraordinary summit in Brussels on Monday evening, EU leaders agreed to "immediately" ban more than two-thirds of all oil imports from Russia. This was announced by EU President Charles Michel on Twitter.
- This (ban, ed.) applies with immediate effect to more than two-thirds of oil imports from Russia, thus removing a huge source of financing for the country's war machine, writes Michel.
The EU countries have specifically agreed to phase out the oil transported by ship from Russia. This will happen before the end of the year. On the other hand, Russian oil delivered via pipelines will not be stopped immediately. Here, the timetable is a looser goal of doing so as soon as possible. This will allow Russia to continue selling oil via pipelines to, among other things, the EU country Hungary.
EU leaders have been trying for weeks to agree on a ban on Russian oil. But the plans have met resistance from Hungary's Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán. Orbán has criticized the EU Commission for not taking into account that Hungary, unlike many other EU countries, does not have ports that can receive oil from other suppliers.
Hungary is therefore deeply dependent on Russian oil delivered via pipelines, Orbán has said. Behind closed doors, however, he is criticized by other EU countries for using the sanctions as a hostage in Hungary's long-running dispute with the EU Commission.
Poland and Germany will not use pipelines
With Monday's agreement, Orbán will receive an exception that makes it significantly easier for Hungary than for other EU countries to implement the sixth package of sanctions against Russia.
Germany and Poland are also delivered Russian oil via pipelines. But the two countries have already decided to phase out their Russian oil. This will mean that more than two-thirds of the oil delivered by ship will be phased out, says EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
- I welcome tonight's agreement on oil sanctions against Russia. This will effectively reduce 90 percent of the EU's oil imports from Russia by the end of the year, Ursula von der Leyen writes on Twitter.
As part of the sixth sanctions package, EU leaders have also agreed to exclude Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, from the Swift payment system. Three more Russian-owned TV stations will also be banned from operating in Europe, while sanctions will also be imposed on a number of individuals believed to be responsible for war crimes in Ukraine.
At the summit on Monday, EU leaders also agreed to send nine billion euros to Ukraine in financial support. The amount corresponds to approximately 67 billion kroner and is intended to help the country with its "liquidity needs", writes Charles Michel on Twitter.
Ritzau / Reuters
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