Ukraine war: EU makes eleventh-hour push to agree on Russia oil sanctions
- EU leaders are holding an extraordinary meeting in Brussels to discuss Ukraine, defence and energy
- The meeting comes amid continued division among EU members over an embargo on Russian oil
Top European Union diplomats meet on Monday for a last-ditch attempt to agree on Russian oil import sanctions before their leaders meet later in the day, seeking to avoid a spectacle of disunity over the bloc’s response to the war in Ukraine.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell sounded a hopeful note ahead of the two-day summit in Brussels, where leaders of the 27 countries will have few concrete results if the impasse over an oil embargo holds up a wider package of sanctions on the table.
“I think that this afternoon, we will be able to offer to the heads of the member states an agreement,” Borrell told broadcaster France Info.
Ambassadors failed on Sunday to agree on a proposal that would ban Russian oil delivered to EU countries by sea by the end of this year, but exempt oil delivered by a pipeline that supplies landlocked Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The EU leaders will declare continued support for Ukraine to help it fend off Russia’s assault and they will discuss how to deal with the impact of the conflict, especially the spike in energy prices and an impending food supply crisis.
However, the talks will be overshadowed by their month-long struggle to agree on a sixth round of sanctions against Moscow.