EU faces questions over Russia sanctions as bloc tries to tackle it

A group of countries opposed a ban on imports of Russian oil appeared to be bogged down on Monday, as the European Union tried to impose new sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Since Russia invaded on February 24, the bloc has implemented five rounds of sanctions on Moscow. More than 350 lawmakers and pro-Kremlin oligarchs were hit with asset freezes and travel bans, according to President Vladimir Putin. Banks, the transport sector and alleged propaganda outlets were targeted.

What could have taken years in the past but has now been achieved in less than three months - relative light speed for the 27 nation bloc. But limiting Russia's energy income by weaning their dependency off its oil and gas supplies is a tougher nut to crack.

On May 4th, the EU's executive branch, the European Commission, proposed a sixth package of war sanctions that included a ban on oil imports from Russia. The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen conceded at the time that securing the agreement of all will not be easy. Hungary is one of a number of landlocked countries that are heavily dependent on Russian oil, along with the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Bulgaria has reservations. Hungary gets more than 60% of its oil from Russia and 85% of its natural gas.

We will do our best to deblock the situation. As he arrived in Brussels to chair a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that he can't ensure that it's going to happen because positions are quite strong.

Borrell said that some member states face more difficulties because they are more dependent because they are landlocked, and they only have oil through pipelines and come from Russia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has a relationship with Putin that is mudding the waters. Orban is considered one of the closest European allies of the Russian leader. He has supported previous EU sanctions, including a phased-in embargo on Russian coal.

Since taking office in 2010, Orban has deepened Hungary's dependence on Russian energy and says its geography and energy infrastructure makes an oil shutdown impossible. His EU partners are at odds over what they believe is driving his reluctance to target oil.

One member state holds hostage the whole union, according to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. He said that the European Commission's proposal offered members a phaseout of Russian oil until December 31, 2024, and that everyone expected that this would be enough. His Irish counterpart, Simon Coveney, admitted that these are difficult, difficult issues for some countries, and he added: Let's not focus on obstacles and negatives today. Coveney said that we need to get on and do this at the same time. We need to send a clear signal to the Kremlin and Moscow that the cost of their continuing war in Ukraine will continue to increase. The ball is now in Hungary's court, as the most vocal member of those opposed. Officials said Orban appears to be looking for EU money for energy infrastructure investment. The compromise between ministers and von der Leyen is only likely to be found in his talks.

The oil standoff raises questions about whether the EU has reached the limits of its unity on sanctions. It is likely that Russia's gas sector, which many countries are dependent on, will be even tougher to target.

A political agreement is likely to be found on a fourth tranche of money to help supply weapons to Ukraine, according to officials before Monday's meeting. It would bring to 2 billion euros $2.1 billion the total amount available for the purchase of arms and other non-lethal assistance.