EU: France believes in an agreement this week on Russian oil


PARIS (Reuters) – European Union countries are expected to reach an agreement “within the week” on a proposed embargo on Russian oil, French Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune said on Tuesday.

“I think we can have an agreement within the week, that is in any case the aim of the French presidency” of the Council of the European Union, he said on LCI, adding that “he there will be a sixth package of European sanctions”.

This new series of sanctions against Russia proposed last week by the European Commission in response to the Russian offensive in Ukraine launched on February 24 comes up against the reluctance of several countries in the bloc, in particular Hungary, which are heavily dependent on imports of Russian oil.

New discussions were to be held late Tuesday morning between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and several European leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron.

But a spokesperson for the commission said that this videoconference would ultimately not take place today, without giving further details.

On the other hand, bilateral discussions were held in the morning between Emmanuel Macron and Viktor Orban on the energy security of Europe, indicated the Elysée.

“It was a question of following up on the discussions between Ursula Von der Leyen and Viktor Orban to finalize, in a spirit of solidarity, the guarantees which are necessary for the conditions of oil supply in the Member States which are currently in a situation very specific with regard to supply by pipeline from Russia,” said the Elysée.

Discussions are continuing at all levels to reach “a full agreement as quickly as possible” on a sixth set of sanctions against Moscow, added the Elysée.

“We are looking for solutions”, said Clément Beaune, mentioning for example deadlines adapted to national particularities or guarantees of alternative supply, to assure the countries most dependent on Russian oil of European solidarity in order to maintain the unity of the bloc against Russia.

(Written by Myriam Rivet, with contributions from Elizabeth Pineau and Jan Strupczewski, edited by Bertrand Boucey and Sophie Louet)



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