EU leaders agree ban on most Russian oil imports

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 EU. This immediately covers more than two thirds of oil imports from Russia, cutting a huge source of financing for its war machine," European Council chief Charles Michel tweeted during the summit.

"Maximum pressure on Russia to end the war."

The head of the EU's executive, Ursula von der Leyen, said the move "will effectively cut around 90 percent of oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of the year" as Germany and Poland had committed to renounce deliveries via a pipeline to their territory.

"Russia has chosen to continue its war in Ukraine. Tonight, as Europeans, united and in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, we are taking new decisive sanctions," French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted, echoing the figure of 90 percent by the end of 2022.

The wrangling over the sixth package of sanctions has rocked European unity in 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 percent of its oil from Russia and has been criticised for keeping money flowing to Moscow's coffers at the same time as it seeks to halt the Kremlin's war.

Michel said the sanctions package also involved disconnecting Russia's biggest bank Sberbank from the global SWIFT system, banning three state broadcasters and blacklisting individuals blamed for war crimes.

He also said that the EU had agreed to to send Ukraine nine billion euros ($9.7 billion) to support Kyiv's "immediate liquidity needs" as it grapples with Russia's invasion.