EU leaders have agreed to severely curtail Russian oil imports as part of the latest round of sanctions.
The deal agreed last night will cut 90% of oil imports from Russia by the end of the year and will immediately impact 75% of imports.
Tonight #EUCO agreed a sixth package of sanctions.
It will allow a ban on oil imports from #Russia.
The sanctions will immediately impact 75% of Russian oil imports. And by the end of the year, 90% of the Russian oil imported in Europe will be banned. pic.twitter.com/uVoVI519v8
— Charles Michel (@eucopresident) May 30, 2022
It comes as part of a compromise with Hungary, which had warned that its economy was heavily reliant on Russian oil imports.
As a result, the initial ban will not affect pipeline imports and will only affect Russian oil being imported to the EU by sea – which accounts for two-thirds of the total amount coming in.
Oil being imported through pipelines is not affected; however, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Germany and Poland have volunteered to stop using pipeline oil by the end of the year.
It means the only Russian oil entering the EU will be through the southern Druzhba pipeline which services Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic and accounts for about 10% - 11% of total EU imports.
Announcing the package last night, President von der Leyen said it marked an “important step forward”.
She said the oil embargo was just one of a number of elements in the sanctions package – and insisted the EU would “soon return to the issue” of the remaining 10% of Russian oil.
We agreed in Versailles to phase out our dependency on Russian gas, oil & coal as soon as possible.
But this requires a plan: This is #REPowerEU.
It has 4 pillars:
• Saving energy
• Diversifying away from 🇷🇺 fossil fuels
• Massive investment in renewable energy
• Financing pic.twitter.com/mCKJkByFKu— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) May 30, 2022
She said the EU planned massive investment in renewable energy to end its reliance on oil and gas imports.
Meanwhile the European Council President Charles Michel said the sanctions would cut a huge source of financing from Russia’s war machine and put maximum pressure on Moscow to end the war.
