EU summit in Brussels: compromise on oil embargo against Russia

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 during a summit meeting in Brussels on Tuesday night.

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.

For the time being, Hungary will continue to be able 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.

Michel: "Maximum pressure on Russia"

Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the EU compromise.

"The EU agrees," wrote the SPD politician on Tuesday night on Twitter.

"We have agreed on further drastic sanctions against Russia." The embargo will affect a large part of Russian oil imports.

EU Council President Michel wrote on Twitter of "maximum pressure on Russia" to end the war against Ukraine.

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 it is part of an entire package of sanctions.

In addition to the oil embargo, this also provides for excluding the largest Russian bank, Sberbank, from the Swift financial communication network.

In addition, Russia's state television news channel Russia 24 (Rossiya 24) and the state broadcasters RTR Planeta and TV Center are to be banned in the EU.

Before the compromise was reached, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed incomprehension about the EU's hesitant approach to the new sanctions package.

"Why can Russia still earn almost a billion euros a day selling energy?" asked Zelenskyj, who was connected via video.

Nine billion EU aid for Ukraine

Topics at the EU summit, which lasts until this Tuesday, are measures against the very high energy prices, further support for Ukraine and EU cooperation in the area of ​​security and defense.

After Zelenskyj's speech, EU Council President Michel announced that the EU would continue to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities and help with reconstruction.

The EU also wants to provide Ukraine with further financial aid of up to nine billion euros.

Michel said so.

Ukraine should be able to use the money to cover running costs, for example for 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 help 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.

IMF: Ukraine needs five billion dollars a month

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.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj puts the sum to compensate for Ukraine's economic losses at around 6.5 billion euros a month.

In addition, there would be hundreds of billions for reconstruction.

The international community has already provided Ukraine with money on a number of occasions.

According to EU information from mid-May, the European Union has already mobilized 4.1 billion euros in support since the beginning of the Russian war.

This includes 1.5 billion euros for the financing of weapons and military equipment.

Last week, the EU states finally agreed on a further 500 million for this purpose.

A week ago, US President Joe Biden put into effect a billion-dollar US aid package for Ukraine.

Before Biden signed the law, the US Congress passed the package with a volume of almost $ 40 billion (38 billion euros) by a large majority.

Ukraine has also received assurances of support from other countries.