A conversation between European leaders, in particular with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is blocking the EU’s proposed embargo on Russian oil, will take place on Tuesday.
An agreement on a proposed European Union embargo on Russian oil, currently blocked by Hungary, is possible “during the week“, estimated Tuesday the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Clément Beaune. “I think we can have an agreement within the week, we are working hard on it. It’s probably a matter of days“said Clément Beaune on the LCI channel. “We have to move quickly, and I say this with confidence: there will be a sixth package of European sanctions, they will be very powerful and we will gradually get out, with a timetable, first of all of Russian oil but of Russian hydrocarbons in general“, he continued.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: Europeans ready for an embargo on Russian oil
Telephone contact between European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will take place on Tuesday, he said. Ursula von der Leyen had made a statement on Monday of “progress» after a meeting with Viktor Orban in Budapest. A landlocked country dependent on its hydrocarbon purchases from Russia, Hungary is asking its EU partners for guarantees on its energy supplies to agree to a sixth package of sanctions against Moscow including a halt to Russian oil purchases .
Read alsoHungary slows Russian oil embargo
“There are exit doors around derogations of two kinds: the delay for certain countries objectively in difficulty, because 100% of their oil supply comes from Russia, and then alternative supply guarantees. These are the two parameters on which we work“said Clément Beaune. The unanimity of the Twenty-Seven is required for the adoption of sanctions. Five sanctions packages have already been adopted against Russia since its invasion of Ukraine on February 24.