BRUSSELS, May 31 — European Union (EU) countries agreed late Monday to reduce the amount of oil purchased from Russia by 90 per cent by the end of this year.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that EU countries had agreed at an EU leaders summit in Brussels to impose oil sanctions on Russia for its war on Ukraine.
“I welcome the #EUCO agreement tonight on oil sanctions against Russia. This will effectively cut around 90 per cent of oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of the year,” Anadolu Agency (AA) quoted von der Leyen as saying on Twitter.
European Council President Charles Michel also commented on the move.
“Agreement to ban the 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,” he said in a tweet.
“This sanctions package includes other hard-hitting measures: de-Swifting the largest Russian bank Sberbank, banning three more Russian state-owned broadcasters, and sanctioning individuals responsible for war crimes in Ukraine,” Michel added.
The proposal, prepared by the European Commission about a month ago, included phasing out the supply of crude oil from Russia in six months and the supply of refined products by the end of the year.
Some member states, especially Hungary, opposed the oil import ban. Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic were given additional time to import oil from Moscow.
— Bernama
