Zelensky chides EU for failing to agree on Russian oil import ban

Zelensky chides EU for failing to agree on Russian oil import ban

The lack of agreement on oil ban exposed a struggle to widen sanctions as the economic risk for Europe grows

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. — AFP file

By Reuters Published: Mon 30 May 2022, 11:22 PM

EU leaders on Monday made clear they would fail to agree on a Russian oil import ban at a summit in Brussels, prompting swift criticism from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who chastised them for being too soft on Moscow.

The European Union has rolled out five packages of sanctions since Russia invaded Ukraine more than three months ago, demonstrating uncharacteristic speed and unity given the complexity of the measures.

But the lack of agreement on a sixth package — and in particular on an oil ban — exposed a struggle to widen sanctions as the economic risk for Europe grows, because so many countries depend on Russian crude.

The leaders of the 27 EU countries are set to agree at the two-day summit on the principle of an eventual oil embargo, a draft of their summit conclusions showed.

But they will leave the hard decisions for later.

“There is no compromise for this moment at all,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose country has been the main holdout for a deal, said