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EU leaders divided over Russia oil embargo

Published:Monday | May 30, 2022 | 4:35 PM
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is seen on a screen (left) as addresses from Kyiv during an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders to discuss Ukraine, energy and food security at the Europa building in Brussels, Monday, May 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders struggled Monday to agree to impose an oil embargo on Russia, as Ukraine's president urged them to set aside their differences and endorse a long-delayed package of sanctions aimed at piling more economic pressure on Moscow to halt the war.

The EU has already imposed five rounds of sanctions on Russia over its war. 

It's targeted more than 1,000 people, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and top government officials, as well as pro-Kremlin oligarchs, banks, the coal sector and more.

But a sixth package of measures, announced on May 4, has been held up by concerns over oil supplies.

The EU gets about 40% of its natural gas and 25% of its oil from Russia, and the divisions are embarrassing the 27-nation trading bloc and exposing the limits of its ambitions.

Addressing the EU leaders Monday by video-link in a 10-minute message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged them to end “internal arguments that only prompt Russia to put more and more pressure on the whole of Europe.”

He said the sanctions package must “be agreed on, it needs to be effective, including (on) oil,” so that Moscow “feels the price for what it is doing against Ukraine” and the rest of Europe.

Only then, Zelenskyy said, will Russia be forced to “start seeking peace.”

It's not the first time he has demanded that the EU target Russia's lucrative energy sector and deprive Moscow of billions of dollars each day in supply payments.

But Hungary is leading a group of EU countries — along with Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria — that rely heavily on Russian oil and can't afford to turn off the pumps. Hungary gets more than 60% of its oil from Russia and 85% of its natural gas.

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