“Tonight we had an important meeting of the European Council. The first topic on the agenda was related to the situation in Ukraine. We addressed two important elements.
This is the first important element: support and especially financial support for Ukraine. And the second point concerns a subject which is an essential subject: we want to stop the Russian war machine and stop the financing of this Russian military capacity by implementing sanctions which aim to put pressure on the Kremlin.
And this evening, the European Council was able to agree on a sixth package of sanctions which will, to be concrete, make it possible to ban Russian oil with a temporary exception concerning oil coming by pipeline. To be very clear, this means that there is immediately an impact of 75% of the Russian oil which is targeted by this measure.
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President Michel: "Tonight the European Council agreed a sixth package of sanctions"
May 31, 2022
And that means that before the end of the year, nearly 90% of Russian oil that is imported into Europe will be covered by this measure”, – said President of the European Council Charles Michel.
In European Council conclusions on Ukraine, 30 May 2022, it is noted:
The European Council resolutely condemns Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. It urges Russia to immediately stop its indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, and to immediately and unconditionally withdraw all its troops and military equipment from the entire territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders.
The European Council is committed to intensify pressure on Russia and Belarus to thwart Russia’s war against Ukraine. The European Council calls on all countries to align with EU sanctions. Any attempts to circumvent sanctions or to aid Russia by other means must be stopped.
The European Union will continue to support the Ukrainian government in its urgent liquidity needs together with its G7 partners. It acknowledges the support announced in the G7 context. The European Union is ready to grant Ukraine new exceptional macro-financial assistance of up to EUR 9 billion in 2022.
Ukraine’s reconstruction will require comprehensive support to rebuild the country for the future. The European Union and its Member States are prepared to play a major role in this regard.
“We do not underestimate all the difficulties. We know that we needed a few weeks before we were able to take such a decision. But we sent a very strong signal today because in recent hours and recent days there has been speculation about the risk of a lack of unity, of European Union unity. And I think that more than ever, it is important to show that we are able to be strong, we are able to be firm and we are able to be tough in order to defend our values and to defend our interests.
In any case, I would like to reiterate my gratitude to all the colleagues who were able to take this strong decision together and send a united message to Ukraine, to Russia and also to European Union citizens and the rest of the world” – Charles Michel said.
