The ambassadors of the 27 member states of the European Union this Thursday (2) approved the sixth package of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
This new round of measures against the regime of Vladimir Putin had been promised since the beginning of May and provides a gradual embargo on imports of Russian oil by sea, with the exceptions of oil transported by pipeline.
The agreement was reached during a meeting in Brussels and will become official this Friday morning (3). The decision puts an end to weeks of negotiations in the EU on sanctions against the oil sector, one of the pillars of the Russian economy.
Countries like Italy are pushing for an embargo on imports of Russian-made oil, but Hungary, whose government is closest to the Kremlin among EU members, has not joined the measure and has blocked any deal.
The solution found was to ban the import of crude oil and refined products transported by sea eight months from now (and from 2024 for Bulgaria).
However, the embargo does not cover oil from pipelines, which would allow Hungary and other Eastern European countries to continue using the Friendship Pipeline connecting Russia to countries in the former Soviet zone.
The move will give landlocked countries such as Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic time to prepare to no longer rely on Russian oil.
The sixth sanctions package also excludes Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, from the global Swift information sharing system.
However, Hungary still managed to remove Cyril, the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, from the EU sanctions target list.
The Moscow patriarch is aligned with Vladimir Putin’s regime and blames the West for the war in Ukraine.
In support of the invasion, the EU considered imposing sanctions on Cyril, who in a draft analyzed by the bloc was described as “one of the most important proponents of Russian military aggression against Ukraine”.
United States of America
Also on Thursday, the US announced new sanctions against government leaders, oligarchs and companies linked to the Kremlin, as well as key sectors of the Russian economy.
Among the targets set by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, steel oligarch Alexei Mordashov and his family, and real estate giant God Nisanov. (ANSA).
source: Noticias
