EU fails to agree on Russian oil ban as leaders gather for summit

EU countries failed to agree on a Russian oil import ban despite last-minute haggling before a summit got under way in Brussels on Monday, exposing a struggle to widen sanctions on Moscow over its war in Ukraine as the economic risk for Europe grows.

The leaders of the 27 European Union countries will agree in principle to an oil embargo, a draft of their summit conclusions showed, but they will leave the practical details and hard decisions until later.

The EU has rolled out five packages of sanctions against Russia since the conflict began more than three months ago, demonstrating uncharacteristic speed and unity given the complexity of the measures.

But an agreement on oil sanctions has proved elusive for weeks because so many countries depend on Russian crude.

"There is no compromise for this moment at all," said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose country has been the main holdout for a deal, as he arrived for the two-day summit.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who proposed the latest package of sanctions at the start of May, agreed: "We're not there yet."

There is broad agreement on the rest of the package, including cutting Russia's biggest bank, Sberbank, from the SWIFT messaging system, banning Russian broadcasters from the EU and adding people to a list whose assets are frozen.

But a senior European Commission official said the whole package, including oil, should be approved in one go.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said it was more realistic to expect an agreement on an oil embargo in a few weeks, hopefully at the EU's next summit on June 23-24.

Some complained harshly over the lack of deal. "We're getting a little bogged down in all of the details and we're forgetting the big picture," Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said. "It's only money. The Ukrainians are paying with their lives." 

Russian troops enter Sievierodonetsk

Russian troops have entered the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, according to the regional governor, who described fierce fighting on Monday over the ruins of a city that has become the focus of Moscow's offensive. 

Russia has concentrated its firepower on the last major population centre still held by Ukrainian forces in the eastern Luhansk province, in a push to achieve one of President Vladimir Putin's stated objectives after three months of war. Incessant shelling has left Ukrainian forces defending ruins in Sievierodonetsk, but their refusal to withdraw has slowed the wider Russian offensive across the Donbas region.

Luhansk region governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian troops had advanced into the city's southeastern and northeastern fringes.

The Russians "use the same tactics over and over again. They shell for several hours - for three, four, five hours - in a row and then attack", Gaidai said. "Those who attack die. Then shelling and attack follow again, and so on until they break through somewhere." With temperatures rising, he said there was a "terrible smell of death" on the outskirts of the city.