Russian oil: EU agrees compromise deal on banning imports
(BBC) European Union leaders have agreed on a plan to block more than two-thirds of Russian oil imports.
The ban will only affect oil that arrives by sea but not pipeline oil, following opposition from Hungary.
European Council chief Charles Michel said the deal cut off “a huge source of financing” for the Russian war machine.
It is part of a sixth package of sanctions approved at a summit in Brussels, which all 27 member states have had to agree on.
Russia currently supplies 27% of the EU’s imported oil and 40% of its gas. The EU pays Russia around €400bn ($430bn, £341bn) a year in return.
So far, no sanctions on Russian gas exports to the EU have been put in place, although plans to open a new gas pipeline from Russia to Germany have been frozen.
What is in the EU’s sixth set of sanctions?
- Russian seaborne oil to be immediately banned, with a temporary exemption for pipeline oil. Two-thirds of Russian oil arrives by sea
- Pledges by Poland and Germany to stop importing pipeline oil by the end of this year will raise coverage of the ban to 90% of Russian imports
- Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, to be cut off from the Swift payment system, which allows the rapid transfer of money across borders
- Three more Russian state-owned broadcasters banned
- More restrictions on “individuals responsible for war crimes in Ukraine”