European agreement on new sanctions against Russia; 90% of imported oil is cut off.
The President of the Council of Europe announced that on the first day of the EU summit, member states had agreed to boycott at least two-thirds of oil imports from Russia.
A senior European official announced Tuesday morning that a consensus had been reached after two EU countries failed to agree on a ban on oil imports from Russia.
Council of Europe President Charles Michel said in a Twitter message that EU member states had agreed to boycott most oil imports from Russia.
“An agreement has been reached to ban Russian oil imports to the European Union,” Michel said in a statement. “It immediately covers more than two-thirds of Russia’s oil imports and reduces a huge source of funding for its war machine.”
“This is the maximum pressure on Russia to end the war,” he added. “The sanctions package includes other tougher measures, including cutting off Asberbank as Russia’s largest bank through Swift, banning the broadcasting of two Russian state networks and imposing sanctions on those responsible for war crimes in Ukraine.”
According to AFP, the President of the Council of Europe also announced that the Union has allocated 9 billion euros for immediate cash assistance to Ukraine.
“In Versailles, we agreed to end our dependence on Russian gas, oil and coal as soon as possible,” European Commission President Ursula von Federline wrote on Twitter.
Welcoming the unanimity of EU leaders on Russia’s oil embargo, Fonderline explained: “This will effectively cut off about 90% of Russia’s oil imports to the EU by the end of 2022. “We will be back soon to decide on the remaining 10 percent.”
“This is an important decision to cripple Putin’s war machine,” said EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell. “Our unity is our strength.”
Earlier, Mark Rutte, referring to questions from some European countries about Russia’s oil embargo, said a sixth package of EU sanctions against Moscow would probably be approved before the summer.
