Russia-Ukraine war: EU nations agree to ban more than two-thirds of Russian oil imports

The European Council President Charles Michel announced that the 27 EU members agreed late Monday on a fresh sanctions package that covers more than two-thirds of Russian oil imports into the bloc. The EU Council president, in a tweet, wrote, "Agreement to ban export of Russian oil to the EU. This immediately covers more than 2/3 of oil imports from Russia, cutting a huge source of financing for its war machine. Maximum pressure on Russia to end the war."

In a subsequent tweet, Michel noted that the alliance also decided to remove Sberbank from the SWIFT international payment system, ban three more Russian state-owned broadcasters, and sanction individuals responsible for war crimes in Ukraine. It is worth mentioning here that, Sberbank is Russia's largest bank and is majorly owned by the Russian government.

On May 30, the leaders of the EU's 27 member states met in Brussels for a two-day summit, with the goal of reaching a final agreement on enforcing a Russian oil embargo expected to be at the top of the agenda. Further, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, who has frequently urged the EU to stop importing all fossil fuels from Russia, spoke at the conference via video link.

"All quarrels in Europe must end, internal disputes that only encourage Russia to put more and more pressure on you. It is time for you to be not separate, not fragments, but one whole," Zelenskyy stated, referring to the new sanctions and an oil embargo against Russia. 

Bloc divided on oil embargo against Russia

The planned sixth round of sanctions against Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine has been held for almost a month due to heated internal divisions about the bloc's differing levels of reliance on Russian-sourced energy. Hungary is leading the resistance, which includes Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria, who claim they can't stop the imports.

The oil embargo issue had been removed from the summit's agenda by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies within the EU. His country imports 60% of its oil and 85% of its natural gas from Russia. However, prohibiting the transport of oil by ship would result in a price increase that would force countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany to pay more for oil than Hungary.

Image: AP