The European Union proposed banning seaborne oil from Russia while delaying restrictions on imports from a key pipeline in an effort to satisfy Hungarian objections and clinch an agreement on a stalled sanctions package that would target Moscow for its war in Ukraine.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, sent a revised proposal to national governments on Saturday that would spare shipments of oil through the giant Druzhba pipeline, which is Hungary’s main source of crude imports, according to people familiar with the matter.
Member states would phase out their imports of seaborne crude in six months and refined petroleum products in eight months, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.