Ambassadors from the 27 European Union member states have been examining a compromise being tabled to break the deadlock on a Russian oil embargo ahead of a two-day emergency summit of EU leaders in Brussels.
European officials fear the absence of an agreement on shutting down Russian oil supplies will cast a shadow over the two-day meeting between European leaders that gets underway in Brussels this Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to address the gathering by video link to press the bloc to "kill Russian exports" three months after the invasion of Ukraine.
The latest round of proposed sanctions by the EU has been obstructed by Hungary, which - as a landlocked country - has no access to seafaring oil cargo ships.
Budapest is dependent for 65 percent of its oil needs on Russian crude supplied via the Druzhba pipeline, which runs from Russia to various points into eastern and central Europe.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has rejected as "inadequate" a proposal to allow it two years longer than other EU states to wean itself off Russian oil.
EU leaders are set to gather today for a two-day summit, while their ambassadors continue their attempts to hammer out a deal on a sixth Russian sanctions package after Sunday's Coreper meeting broke up without an agreement.
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Druzhba oil pipeline at the centre of debate
Hungary wants at least four years and at least €800 million in EU funding to adapt its refineries to process non-Russian crude and boost pipeline capacity to neighbouring Croatia.
Slovakia and the Czech Republic - also supplied by the Druzhba pipeline - have reportedly accepted exemptions of two and half years.
The compromise put to national negotiators during Sunday's meeting of EU ambassadors proposes the exclusion of the Druzhba pipeline from a future oil embargo and only imposing sanctions on oil shipped to the European Union by tanker vessels.
The Druzhba pipeline accounts for one third of all EU oil supplies from Russia with maritime cargo accounting for the remaining two thirds.
No agreement
The compromise was tabled by France - which currently holds the rotating EU presidency - and by the European Council, which represents the governments of EU nations.
Oil pumped in via the Druzhba pipeline would be exempt "for the time being," according to sources close to the negotiations.
The aim is to break a stalemate that has, since early May, prevented the EU from imposing a sixth round of sanctions on Moscow over its war in Ukraine.
The proposal envisages ending the purchases of Russian crude within six months and Russian petroleum products by the end of the year.
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Sharing the burden
Additional sanctions on Russian banks and an expanded list of Russian individuals blacklisted by the bloc have also been tabled.
Yet Sunday's meeting of EU ambassadors did not find agreement on the compromise, raising questions of fairness on the sanctions burden shouldered by member states.
Another option reportedly under consideration is to postpone the entire package of new sanctions until a solution can be found to provide Hungary with alternative oil supplies.
The EU wants to cut funding for the Kremlin's war effort. Last year's bill for Russian oil imports was €80billion, four times greater than it was for gas in 2021.
