World News for Students of English

08-06-2022 07:00

EU leaders agreed to pursue a partial ban on Russian oil. The ban may begin a sixth package of sanctions as punishment on Russia for the Ukraine invasion.

The sanctions forbid the purchase of oil and petroleum products from Russia, which they deliver to the EU by sea. However, the sanctions allow a temporary exemption for pipeline oil.

The ban immediately covers more than 60% of Russian oil imports. It cuts a huge source of war funding, and it puts maximum pressure on Russia to end the war. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said that thanks to the latest package of sanctions, the EU should complete a ban on almost 90% of all Russian oil imports by the end of the year.

Other important parts in the package are the exclusion of Sberbank, the biggest Russian bank, from the global payment system. It also puts a ban on insurance and reinsurance of Russian ships by EU companies. The EU has additionally banned access for Russian companies to a range of business services, and it has suspended three Russian state media from broadcasting in the EU.

Difficult words: pursue (to follow), exemption (an exception), suspend (to stop activity).

You can watch the video news lower on this page.