The European Union agrees to an embargo on “more than two-thirds” of its oil purchases from Russia

European Union (EU) leaders reached an agreement on Monday night to embargo on “more than two thirds” of its Russian oil purchases, European Council President Charles Michel announced in a Twitter message.

“Agreement to ban Russia’s oil exports to the EU. It immediately covers more than 2/3 of Russia’s oil imports, cutting off a huge source of funding for its war machine, “said the officer in his tweet.

In addition, European Union leaders agreed on Monday that Russia’s oil ban in retaliation for the war in Ukraine would leave a veto on all crude oil that reached the block through the pipeline, a Hungary’s request supported by Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

“Agreement to ban Russia’s oil exports to the EU. It immediately covers more than two-thirds of imports from Russia, cutting off a huge source of funding for its war machine,” the European Council President Charles Michel on Twitter. .

The pipes

The agreement, therefore, covers the import of crude oil by sea and it leaves in veto oil being brought from Russia to Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia via pipeline, a request that Hungarian Viktor Orbán transferred to bloc partners within weeks.

It’s about the Druzhba pipe, starting in Russia and flowing south of Belarus before being divided into two branches: a northern crossing into Poland and reaching Germany and a southern one passing through Ukraine, Hungary and Slovakia before ending in the Czech Republic.

As community sources at EFE explained, Berlin and Warsaw have agreed to stop importing crude oil through the northern branch, carrying approximately 25 million tonsso the exception only includes the southern section of the pipeline, through which another 12.8 million passed.

Both sources pointed out that the agreement of the Heads of State and Government also included a promise to include “as soon as possible” the southern branch of the pipeline in the sanctions, thus completing the veto on all Russian oil, even without a specific date .to get it.

more punishment

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, enter into an agreement in a Twitter message in which he also stressed that, with Germany’s promise to also stop its purchase of crude through Druzhba, Russia’s percentage of sanctioned oil is rising to 90%.

The agreement of the leaders on Moscow oil sanctions opens the sixth package of EU revenge for the war with Ukraine and which also included the disconnection of Sberbank, the largest bank in the countryfrom the international Swift messaging system.

It also expanded the list of people allowed to include the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, and Colonel Azatbet Omurbekov, known as “the Butcher of Bucha”, among others, and banned broadcasts of three networks of television (Russia RTR/ RTR Planet, Russia 24 and TV Center International)

Source: AFP and EFE

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