(ANSA) - BRUSSELS, MAY 13 - In the EU, contacts on the Russian oil embargo included in the sixth package of sanctions announced several days ago continue.
The situation remains that of the impasse.
The solution does not appear close and the question, explain EU sources, "is complex".
The meeting of the 27 ambassadors today did not address the issue.
Over the weekend the contacts will continue, but one hypothesis is no longer excluded: that of unpacking the sixth round of measures in two phases, leaving the entry into force of the stop to crude oil at a later time.
The unpacking hypothesis, however, does not appeal to all Member States.
The risk of unpacking, it is explained, could be that of giving an image of weakness vis-a-vis Russia.
But, at the same time, prolonging the action of the sixth package for an excessive time could be counterproductive: the measures against Russian personalities - such as Patriarch Kirill - or against financial institutions such as Sberbanks were announced several days ago.
And the more time passes, the lesser the extent of the economic damage that the EU can bring to Moscow through sanctions.
If the path of unpacking were adopted, European sources explain, this would not in any case mean that the EU has set aside the crude embargoal, in fact bowing to the critical issues posted by Hungary.
The measure, it is observed, will be there anyway.
"All options are on the table, the priority is to remain united", explains an EU diplomatic source.
(HANDLE).