Ukraine war: EU leaders agree ban on most Russian oil imports
- Bloc agrees to cut 90 per cent of Russian oil imports by year-end, as Hungary is granted exemption for oil through pipeline
- Sanctions also excludes Russia’s largest bank Sberbank from the Swift system, bans three more Russian state-owned broadcasters
EU leaders have backed a ban on most Russian oil imports, after a compromise deal with Hungary to punish Moscow for the war in Ukraine.
The 27-nation bloc has spent weeks haggling over a proposed total embargo on Russian oil but came up against stubborn resistance from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Monday hatched a compromise deal to exempt deliveries arriving in Europe by pipeline from the ban, after Budapest warned halting supplies would wreck its economy.
“Agreement to ban export of Russian oil to the EU. This immediately covers more than two thirds of oil imports from Russia, cutting a huge source of financing for its war machine,” European Council chief Charles Michel tweeted during the summit.
“Maximum pressure on Russia to end the war.”
The head of the EU’s executive, Ursula von der Leyen, said the move “will effectively cut around 90 per cent of oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of the year” as Germany and Poland had committed to renounce deliveries via a pipeline to their territory.