EU seeks to push through Russian oil ban at summit

Berlin, May 30: Leaders of the 27 EU member states were set to meet on Monday with the aim of sealing an agreement on finally imposing an embargo on Russian oil likely to top the agenda.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has repeatedly called on the EU to halt all fossil fuel imports from Russia, will address the summit via videoconference in the evening.

The planned sixth round of sanctions against Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine has been stalled for almost a month over tense disagreements within the bloc due to varying levels of dependence on Russian-sourced energy.

Hungary is leading the members in opposition, including Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, who say they cannot halt imports.

However, the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was optimistic despite the "tough talks yesterday afternoon, as well as this morning," telling broadcaster France Info on Monday morning that: "I think that this afternoon, we will be able to offer to the heads of the member states an agreement."

What proposals will be discussed at the summit?

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest allies within the EU, has demanded that the oil embargo question be taken off the summit's agenda.

His country relies on Russia for 60% of its oil and 85% of its natural gas.

One solution that has been floated is to impose sanctions only on oil transported by ships and leave the Druzhba pipeline that feeds Slovakia and Hungary untouched.

But this would trigger a price surge that would hit countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, forcing them to pay more for oil than Hungary.

Other proposals for supporting Ukraine will also be on the table during the two-day summit, including an offer of €9 billion ($9.7 billion) in financial assistance as well as further military aid and help with war crimes investigations.

Leaders will also discuss the issue of food security with proposals on how to help Ukraine export its masses of agricultural products. The Russian invasion triggered a global food crisis by choking Ukraine's exports through the Black Sea. Ukraine is one of the world's biggest exporters of staple goods such as wheat and vegetable oil.

Source: DW