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EU member states failed to agree on an embargo on Russian oil, although diplomats say they will still try to make progress ahead of the two-day summit starting today.
There are still many details to be resolved, a senior bloc official said, adding that there is still hope for a deal, but Hungary is refusing to accept the compromise. EU countries are discussing a proposal under which member states would agree to impose a blockade on Russian oil supplies coming by sea to the EU by the end of the year.
Exceptions would allow some countries – Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic – to receive oil through Russia’s 4,000-kilometer Druzhba pipeline.
Budapest had earlier suggested that it would support the exemption, which would allow oil to be extracted through the Russian pipeline. But now it is seeking further concessions. Last year, Russia shipped nearly 720,000 barrels of crude oil a day to European refineries through its main pipeline in the region, compared with 1.57 million barrels a day via shipments to the Baltic, Black Sea and Arctic ports.
Most pipeline deliveries go to Germany and Poland, but these two countries have hinted that they will try to reduce their dependence on Russian supplies despite any action the EU can take.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on May 29 that he was concerned that EU unity had “begun to crumble” as the bloc prepares to meet to discuss the oil embargo and other efforts aimed at to reduce dependence on Russian energy.
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