June 2, 2022
EU Finally Approves New Sanctions and Partial Russian Oil Ban After Reaching Compromise With Hungary
The European Union has just approved a sixth package of sanctions including a partial ban on Russian oil imports after Hungary dropped objections that had been holding it up for weeks.
EU ambassadors meeting on Thursday (June 2) backed the measures, which would represent the EU’s toughest yet and are aimed at curbing Russia’s ability to finance the war in Ukraine, France, which holds the EU presidency, confirmed on Twitter.
The measures would forbid the purchase of crude oil from Russia delivered to member states by sea in six months and refined petroleum products in eight months.
Pipeline crude would be temporarily spared as a concession to Hungary and other landlocked countries, which rely on Russian supplies through the Druzhba pipeline.
The sanctions package will also see Russia’s biggest bank, Sberbank, cut off the international payments system SWIFT.
The same restriction also targets Credit Bank of Moscow and the Russian Agricultural Bank.
The measures will be adopted once they are published in the EU’s official journal.
Sanctions in the EU require the unanimous consent of its 27 nations and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had blocked the latest package of measures for weeks.
