Sanctions against Russia: EU countries agree on oil embargo

It is about “maximum pressure on Russia,” said EU Council President Michel: In the dispute over the planned oil embargo, the EU states have agreed on a compromise. More than two-thirds of imports from Russia are said to be affected.

The EU countries have agreed on a compromise in the dispute over the planned oil embargo against Russia. More than two-thirds of Russian oil supplies to the EU are said to be affected by the import ban, as EU Council President Charles Michel announced at a summit in Brussels. The Belgian wrote on Twitter of “maximum pressure on Russia” to end the war against Ukraine.

According to diplomats, the compromise stipulates that, at Hungary’s insistence, only Russian oil deliveries by sea will be blocked for the time being. Transports by pipeline should initially continue to be possible.

Germany and Poland do not want to use the exception

For the time being, Hungary will be able to continue to obtain Russian oil overland via the huge Druzhba pipeline. Refineries in eastern Germany and Poland as well as in Slovakia and the Czech Republic are also connected to it. However, Germany and Poland have already made it clear that they do not want to benefit from the pipeline oil exemption.

Due to the additional waiver by Germany and Poland, Russia could only sell a tenth of the previous oil volume to the EU in the coming year. This is intended to punish the country for its war against Ukraine, which has now been going on for more than three months. According to estimates by the EU think tank Bruegel, until recently, EU countries were still spending around 450 million euros a day on oil from Russia.

Oil embargo is part of a major sanctions package

For weeks before the breakthrough at the summit of heads of state and government in Brussels, Hungary had referred to its heavy dependence on Russian oil and blocked an agreement on an embargo.

This was also relevant because the embargo is part of an entire package of sanctions. In addition to the oil embargo, this includes excluding the largest Russian bank, Sberbank, from the Swift financial communications network. In addition, Russia’s state television news channel Rossija 24 and the state broadcasters RTR Planeta and TV Center are to be banned in the EU.

More billions in aid for Ukraine

At the EU summit in Brussels, it was also decided to provide Ukraine with further financial aid of up to nine billion euros. According to EU Council President Michel, Ukraine should be able to use the money to cover running costs such as pension payments and the operation of hospitals. It is unclear how much money will be paid out as a grant and how much as a loan.

The EU Commission recently announced that it would propose a corresponding measure. At that time, EU Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said that the aid should consist primarily of loans and, in part, grants.

According to Ukrainian information, the country receives the equivalent of almost 4.7 billion euros a month from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. These are the costs that the Ukrainian budget needs for social spending as a result of the war. The IMF assumes that Ukraine needs aid of around five billion dollars a month to ensure the functioning of the government and important state institutions.