The European Union has agreed on a partial ban on Russian oil imports, according to European Council chief Charles Michel.
This covers more than 2/3 of oil imports from Russia, cutting a huge source of financing for its war machine, Michel announced in a tweet. Michel’s announcement comes after an extraordinary European Council summit attended by EU leaders in Brussels at the beginning of the week to discuss a sixth package of sanctions against Russia.
This sanctions package includes other hard-hitting measures: de-Swifting the largest Russian bank Sberbank, banning 3 more Russian state-owned broadcasters, and sanctioning individuals responsible for war crimes in Ukraine
Mr. Michel added.
More specifically, the EU agreed to ban 90% of Russian oil imports by the end of the year, the leaders of the European Council said. Russian oil delivered by tankers would be banned, while an exemption will be made for the southern segment of the Druzhba pipeline, said Ursula von der Leyen.
The northern segment of the pipeline serves Poland and Germany, while the southern part goes to Hungary, Slovakia and Czech republic. Von der Leyen said an exemption will be made for the southern segment, which accounts for 10% of imports on Russian oil.
EU leaders will meet again in Brussels on May 31 to discuss the bloc’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to CNN, officials first proposed joining the US and others in banning Russia’s oil a month ago as part of a sixth package of EU sanctions over the country’s invasion of Ukraine. However, an agreement has been held up by some countries, like Hungary, that are particularly reliant on Russian crude delivered via pipeline.
Recently, the European Commission has presented the REPowerEU Plan, its response to the hardships and global energy market disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to the EU, there is a double urgency to transform Europe’s energy system: ending the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels, which are used as an economic and political weapon and cost European taxpayers nearly €100 billion per year, and tackling the climate crisis.
