European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has disclosed at the World Economic Forum that she’s hoping an agreement to sanction Russian oil will be reached in the coming days.
The 27 EU countries have been stuck over an oil embargo on Russia for several weeks, with countries such as Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic blocking the measure.
Any sanctions imposed by the EU need to have the approval of all member states in order to be implemented.
“We are working on the oil embargo very hard, I hope we are talking about days,” she said.
“So what we are looking at is one or two member states that are landlocked, so we cannot have oil via the sea and need alternatives in pipelines and in refineries, and there we are trying to find solutions,” von der Leyen added.
The EU decided to block imports of Russian coal last month, but imposing restrictions on oil has proven a much more complicated task.
Countries that are highly dependent on Russian fossil fuels are concerned about the implications of such measures for their own economies.
Hungary, for example, is reportedly asking for financial support of between 15 billion and 18 billion euros ($16 billion and $19 billion) to move away from Russian energy.
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