Testing European unity against Russia as oil embargo talks continue

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EU diplomats failed to reach consensus on Sunday on the terms of the ban, but they held further talks on Monday in a bid to present a deal for approval by EU leaders at a summit later in the day.

A senior EU diplomat told CNN that the bloc was “in the final stage” of agreeing the terms of the oil embargo, but needed more time to persuade some member states, including Hungary, to join.

“We understand their special situation, we understand their security problem, we understand their search for guarantees to be able to resolve that,” the diplomat said.

European officials initially suggested joining the United States and others in the Russian oil embargo a month ago as follows: Part of the sixth package of EU sanctions due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. But the agreement has been disrupted by The opposition of some countries Which depends in particular on the delivery of Russian crude through the pipeline.

EU leaders can agree to ban all Russian oil by the end of this year, but are offering a temporary exemption to pipeline imports, according to draft conclusions of the summit seen by him. Reuters. An EU official told CNN that a ban on all seaborne oil would cover more than two-thirds of imports from Russia.

Europe is the largest buyer of Russian energy. Russian crude It accounted for 27% of the bloc’s imports in 2021, according to Eurostat. That’s about 2.4 million barrels per day, according to IEA data. According to the International Energy Agency, about 35% of this amount was delivered via pipelines to the block.

But pipeline deliveries made up a much larger share of Russian oil shipments to Hungary (86%), the Czech Republic (97%) and Slovakia (100%).

Earlier this month, Hungary’s foreign minister, Peter Szyjjarto, likened EU proposals for a complete ban on Russian oil to an “atomic bomb”. country economy. Her government previously said it would need at least three to five years to stop all imports.

A senior EU diplomat told CNN that care must be taken to ensure that any exceptions do not unfairly benefit some countries over others.

“We have to be really careful with the text of the legal penalties, so that we maintain [EU] The internal market is everywhere and we maintain equal opportunities.”

Europe has so far maintained a united front against Russia Because of the war in Ukraine, he imposed round after round of economic sanctions, which included a ban on it coal imports. It also aims to reduce Russian natural gas imports by 66% by the end of this year.

But cracks have begun to appear in recent weeks in the name of High inflation and slow growth hit the economies of Europe.

Jason Furman, a Harvard University professor who previously served as President Barack Obama’s chief economic adviser, told CNN Business at The World Economic Forum in Davos last week.

Julia Horowitz contributed to the report.

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