The European Union's executive on Wednesday proposed the toughest package of sanctions yet against Moscow for its war in Ukraine, but several countries worried about the impact of cutting off Russia oil imports stood in the way of agreement, Reuters reports.
The new punishments, announced by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, included sanctions on Russia's top bank and a ban on Russian broadcasters from European airwaves, as well as the embargo on crude oil in six months.
The EU faces the task of finding alternatives when energy prices have surged as it imports some 3.5 million barrels of Russian oil and oil products every day and also depends on Moscow's gas supplies.
A handful of eastern EU countries are concerned that the halt would not allow them enough time to adapt, even though diplomats said Hungary and Slovakia would be given until the end of 2023.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Facebook that, even with the lag, Hungary could only agree to the measures if crude oil imports from Russia via pipeline were exempt from the sanctions.
The landlocked country - whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban cultivates closer ties with the Kremlin than others in the bloc - received more than half of its crude oil and oil products imports from Russia last year, according to the International Energy Agency.
Slovakia has asked for a three-year transition period and the Czech Republic was seeking a delay of two or three years.