European Union (EU) leaders agreed to reduce oil imports from Russia by 90 percent by the end of the year. Sberbank, one of the largest Russian banks, will be removed from the money transfer system SWIFT as part of the sixth sanction package announced by the Union against Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. Three of the Russian state-controlled television channels will be banned.
EU Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced to the public the decisions of the EU, who held a press conference after the Leaders’ Summit in Brussels.
“I am very glad that the leaders agreed in principle on the sixth package of sanctions,” said von der Leyen.
Michel, on the other hand, said that with the new sanctions, Russia’s revenues, which it uses to finance its “war machine”, will decrease significantly.
The EU supplies about 25 percent of its oil needs and about 40 percent of its natural gas needs from Russia.
Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic exempted from the decision
Some EU members, especially Hungary, opposed the ban on oil imports from Russia.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that the European Commission had prepared the proposal to phase out the supply of crude oil from Russia in 6 months and the supply of refined products by the end of the year, without consulting them, and that it “acted irresponsibly”.
Under the EU’s sixth sanctions package, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are exempted from the oil import ban for now.
However, it is unclear how much additional time will be given to these countries.
On the other hand, EU countries have also reached an agreement to meet Ukraine’s liquidity needs together with the G7 countries, apart from the sanctions package. Michel stated that the EU is ready to donate 9 billion euros to Ukraine for this purpose and that they will support the reconstruction of Ukraine.
In the final declaration published after the EU Leaders’ Summit, it was noted that the union was determined to increase the pressure on Russia and Belarus.
An immediate and unconditional withdrawal from Ukrainian territory was called upon by Russia. The Kremlin has been asked to immediately stop attacks on civilians and infrastructure in Ukraine.
The declaration asked the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, to draw up new plans to support Ukrainian refugees.