By Omer Tugrul Cam
BRUSSELS (AA) – European Union countries agreed late Monday to reduce the amount of oil purchased from Russia by 90% 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% of oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of the year,” von der Leyen said on Twitter.
European Council President Charles Michel also commented on the move.
“Agreement to ban 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 3 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.
Despite this, Hungary was opposed to the complete cessation of imports until energy supply security was fully ensured.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, at the entrance to Monday’s EU Leaders' Summit, said the EU Commission prepared a proposal without consulting them and called it "irresponsible behavior.”
*Writing by Seda Sevencan