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European Union leaders agreed to partially cut off Russian oil imports on Monday as part of the sixth round of sanctions against the country since Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine in February.
The deal will still allow for the imports by pipeline but bans all Russian oil brought in by sea, which will cut “a huge source of financing for its war machine,” EU Council President Charles Michel wrote on Twitter.
The sanctions package covers about two-thirds of all oil imported from Russia.
Ukrainian demonstrators demand an embargo on Russian oil during a protest in front of EU institutions prior to an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders to discuss Ukraine, energy and food security at the Europa building in Brussels, Monday, May 30, 2022.
(AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)
French President Emmanuel Macron said 90% of Russian oil imports will be banned by the end of this year.
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Europe gets about 40% of its natural gas and 25% of its oil from Russia, though some countries rely more heavily on Russia for their energy.
This sixth round of sanctions was originally announced in early May, but has been held up for weeks over concerns from Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and other nations about where they would turn for oil.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban welcomed the EU’s deal on Monday, but said “in the case of an accident with the pipeline” that Hungary would need “the right to get Russian oil from other sources.”
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed European leaders in a video message, saying that “Russia must feel a much higher price for its aggression.”
“The key point is, of course, the oil. I believe that Europe will have to give up Russian oil and oil products in any case,” Zelenskyy said. “And the sooner this happens, the more complete the abandonment of Russian oil will be, the greater the benefit will be for Europe itself in the end.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy displayed on a screen as he addresses the audience from Kyiv on a screen during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Monday, May 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The sixth round of sanctions will also cut the Russian bank Sberbank off from the SWIFT international payment system, ban three additional Russian state-owned broadcasters, and sanction more individuals responsible for war crimes in Ukraine, according to the EU Council president.
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The United States banned all Russian oil imports in March, just weeks after Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
