European Union representatives have not yet reached an agreement on the introduction of the oil embargo as a new sanction against russia. They are expected to approach the agreement at a meeting of ambassadors on Thursday, writes The Guardian, referring to Reuters.
According to the agency's interlocutor who is aware of the negotiation process, the meeting ended without official support for the plan.
Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria have expressed concern over the oil embargo. Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Assen Vasiliev said his country would like to be exempted from the oil embargo if the EU allows it.
Hungary and Slovakia would also like to refrain from the embargo.
Today the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen presented the sixth package of sanctions against russia. Among the proposals is the gradual introduction of an oil embargo to reduce funding for russia's military machine.
It is also proposed to disconnect from SWIFT critical for russia Sberbank and two other financial institutions, and apply sanctions against russian media. An exhaustive list of restrictive measures has not yet been released.
The application of the oil embargo at the EU level requires the consent of all 27 members, a vote has not yet been taken.