EU nears compromise agreement for partial ban on Russian oil
The European Union is edging towards a partial ban of Russian oil, as leaders attempt to find a compromise to placate the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, who has been holding up a deal on the latest sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
Under a compromise plan to be discussed at a Brussels summit on Monday, Russian oil transported through the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline for Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia would be exempt from the EU embargo.
The EU has stalled over its latest sanctions against Russia for nearly four weeks since the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, proposed a complete ban on Russian oil by the end of the year.
Arriving at the summit, Orbán said “the pipeline solution is not bad” but insisted his country needed guarantees it could get oil from other sources if there was an “accident” at the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through war-torn Ukraine. In typically pugnacious style, Orbán attacked the commission for what he called its “irresponsible behaviour” and blamed it for creating a “difficult situation”.
Under a compromise drafted by France, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, EU member states would agree most of the latest sanctions package, which includes more restrictions on Russian banks, asset freezes on people close to the Kremlin and a ban on most Russian oil.
A draft of the summit conclusions seen by the Guardian describes the compromise as “a temporary exception for crude oil delivered by pipeline”, with EU ministers instructed to agree on how to close the loophole “as soon as possible”.
The bloc has come under increasing criticism for slow progress in agreeing the latest sanctions package, the sixth, including from Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr
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