INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
EU leaders on Monday backed a ban on most Russian oil imports, after a compromise deal with Hungary to punish Moscow for the war in
Ukraine.The 27-nation bloc has spent weeks haggling over a proposed total embargo on Russian oil but came up against stubborn resistance
from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.EU leaders meeting in Brussels hatched a compromise deal to exempt deliveries arriving in Europe
by pipeline from the ban, after Budapest warned halting supplies would wreck its economy."Agreement to ban export of Russian oil to the
Ursula von der Leyen, said the move "will effectively cut around 90% of oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of the year" as Germany
Tonight, as Europeans, united and in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, we are taking new decisive sanctions," French President Emmanuel
the face of the Kremlin's attack on Ukraine after five waves of unprecedented economic punishment on Russia.The compromise excluded the
Druzhba pipeline from the oil embargo and only imposed sanctions on crude shipped to the EU by tanker vessel.Despite the gap in the embargo
left by Hungary's opposition, the latest round of sanctions represents some of the most damaging measures taken by the EU so far.The EU
imports some 26% of its oil from Russia and has been criticized for keeping money flowing to Moscow's coffers at the same time as it seeks
SWIFT system, banning three state broadcasters and blacklisting individuals blamed for war crimes.He also said that the EU had agreed to to
'quarrels'The negotiations over the oil ban had dogged the EU for weeks and the bloc's leaders got chivvied along Monday by Ukraine's
President Volodymyr Zelensky.Zelensky, in a video address, called on them to adopt "effective" sanctions against Russian oil to make the
Kremlin pay the price for its war on Ukraine."All quarrels in Europe must end, internal disputes that only encourage Russia to put more and
more pressure on you," Zelensky told the EU summit."It is time for you to be not separate, not fragments, but one whole."Orban, often the
odd man out in EU decision making, had called the proposal only to stop oil deliveries to the EU by ship a "good solution" before the talks
could keep on receiving Russian oil by sea if anything happened to the pipeline crossing Ukraine.Michel said the EU had "decided to take the
appropriate measures to react and to make sure that we will protect the security of supply."Return to Hungary issue? Landlocked Hungary
imports 65% of its oil from Russia through the Druzhba pipeline and, along with Slovakia and the Czech Republic, had asked for an exception
from the import ban.Diplomats said a two-year delay to the embargo had been offered to the countries concerned, but that Budapest wanted at
least four years and nearly 800 million euros ($860 million) in EU funding to adapt its refineries.Von der Leyen said that the EU would
return "as soon as possible in one way or the other" to the issue of trying to ban oil through the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary.Budapest's
intransigence came on the back of Orban's recent resounding re-election to a fourth term and some experts are skeptical about the official
claims of alarm over a Russian oil ban.Further complicating the stand-off had been Hungary's share of the EU's 800-billion-euro recovery
fund, which Brussels has yet to approve due to disagreements over Budapest's respect for the rule of law.
