That's it from us tonight. We'll be back tomorrow to follow the second day of the special summit. 

Zelenskyy discusses Black Sea ports with Erdogan

The Ukrainian and Turkish leaders held a call on Monday. Zelenskyy reported on Twitter that the two "discussed threats to food security posed by the aggressor and ways to unblock Ukrainian ports".

Erdogan, meanwhile, "stressed that he attached special importance to the project of establishing a safe corridor for the exportation of Ukrainian agricultural products by sea," his office said on Twitter.

"President Erdogan further noted that Turkey looked with favour in principal on joining the Control Centre to be formed with the participation of the United Nations as well as parties, and hosting the centre in Istanbul."

Danish energy company warns of 'risk' Gazprom will stop supplying it

Orsted said in a statement that given that it has refused to pay for Russian gas deliveries in roubles and that Gasprom refuses to take in payment in euros, "there is a risk that Gazprom Export will stop supplying gas to Ørsted."

The company has a payment deadline on 31 May. 

It said that this would likely constitute "a breach of contract" from Gasprom

"Since there is no gas pipeline going directly from Russia to Denmark, Russia will not be able to directly cut off the gas supplies to Denmark, and it will thus still be possible for Denmark to get gas. However, this means that the gas for Denmark must, to a larger extent, be purchased on the European gas market. We expect this to be possible," Orsted explained. 

"In Ørsted, we have been preparing for this scenario to minimise the risk of Ørsted's gas customers, which are primarily major companies in Denmark and Sweden, experiencing shortfalls in gas supplies. Ørsted has storage capacity in e.g. Denmark and Germany, and we are currently filling up these storage facilities to secure gas supplies to our customers and contribute to the market's security of supply.

"We are in ongoing dialogue with the authorities about potential scenarios, and we trust that the authorities, who have the overall overview of the supply situation in Denmark, are prepared for the situation," it added. 

'Friction' among EU member states 'encourages Russia': Zelenskyy

The Ukrainian leader revealed on Telegram that during his address to EU leaders he said that "Europe must demonstrate force" and called for unity and solidarity.

"Greater solidarity is the foundation of this force. And you know it. Finally, any friction in Europe must stop, internal friction that only encourages Russia to force more on you," he wrote. 

Gazprom suspends gas deliveries to Dutch energy provider

GasTerra, a partially state-owned Dutch gas trader, announced that it "will not receive 2.0 billion cubic metres of gas from Gasprom in the period 31 May to 30 September 2022."

It explained that the suspension is down to its refusal to pay for deliveries in roubles, as required by Russian since the imposition of Western sanctions which have cut off many Russian banks from international banking systems.

"GasTerra will not go along with Gazprom’s payment demands. This is because to do so would risk breaching sanctions imposed by the EU and also because there are too many financial and operational risks associated with the required payment route. In particular, opening accounts in Moscow under Russian law and their control by the Russian regime pose too great a risk for the Groningen company," it added. 

GasTerra said that it had "anticipated this by buying gas from other providers" but stressed that "it is impossible to predict how the lost supply of 2 billion m3 of Russian gas will affect the supply/demand situation and whether the European market can absorb this loss of supply without serious consequences."

Zelenskyy has addressed Council

Charles Michel said on Twitter following Zelenskyy's address to the 27 heads of state via videoconference that the EU "will boost your liquidity and help you reconstruct Ukraine."

"We will continue to bolster your ability to defend your people and your country," he added.

Orban says it's 'fake news' that he's Vladimir Putin's 'puppet'

Russia ready to 'facilitate' commercial shipping in Black Sea: Kremlin

As EU leaders gathered behind closed doors to discuss the consequences of Russia's aggression on Ukraine, Vladimir Putin held a "thorough exchange of views" with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, according to a read-out from the Kremlin. 

"While discussing the situation in Ukraine, emphasis was placed on ensuring safe navigation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov and removing the threat of mines in their waters," the Kremlin said.

"Vladimir Putin noted the readiness of the Russian side to facilitate unimpeded maritime transit of cargo in coordination with its Turkish partners. This also applies to the export of grain from Ukrainian ports," it added.

Moscow blamed the "problems on the world food market" on the "short-sighted financial and economic policies of Western states" and said it stood ready to export "significant volumes of fertilizers and agricultural products" if sanctions are lifted. 

Germany to be independent of Russian oil by year-end: Scholz

The German Chancellor told reporters that Berlin is working to ensure that the country becomes "independent of (Russian) coal imports by autumn" and to "get out of oil imports and oil import dependence on Russia by the end of the year."

Summit now underway

Hungarian and Slovakian leaders met before summit

Eduard Heger, Slovakia's Prime Minister, wrote on Twitter that he told his Hungarian counterpart that "unity remains key" during a meeting before the summit.

"Revenues from oil are financing Russia's aggression in Ukraine," he added.

EU should grant Ukraine candidate status: Metsola

The European Parliament would have liked a "full and unequivocal declaration of candidate status for Ukraine," the institution's President, Roberta Metsola, told reporters.

"Candidate status of Ukraine but also of Georgiaa and Moldova remains a priority otherwise what will the message that we are sending to the people of those countries be," she went on.

"We have seen that Ukraine has responded also to the questionnaire with lightning speed and it is with that lightning speed that we expect the EU to take the next step," she added. 

On food security, she called on the EU to "look at common purchasing" in order to help countries that are reliant on imports for the food supplies and also production.

She lambasted the "Russian blockade" of Ukrainian grains as "really unacceptable to us."

'Aggressor' should fund Ukraine reconstruction: Lithuania leader

Gitanas Nausėda told reporters that the EU should "contribute to the rebuilding of Ukraine but this should be not only our cost, this should be the cost of the aggressor."

"One of the possible options could be use frozen assets of Russian oligarchs and entities," he added. 

On the topic of sanctions, the Lithuanian President spoke of the Eu's "shame we were not able to implement the sixth package of sanctions for Russia."

"I hope very much that today we will close the last open page and we will succeed to have the result and then we will start to consider the seventh package of sanctions," he went on. 

He also came out in favour of granting the EU candidate status to Ukraine which he said is a "factor of fighting spirit for them (Ukrainians) and this fighting spirit depends on our ability, our commitment to support them effectively."

'We will have an agreement' on oil ban: Borrell

The EU's chief diplomat told reporters upon arrival that he is "fully confident that we will get an agreement."

"We have been pushing everyone in order to get an agreement today and I am very much confident that we will have this agreement," he added. 

"I'm sure we'll be able to look for a pragmatic approach," he went on, emphasising that "we have to stop the funding of the Russian war machine."

He also said that the EU has "to continue supporting Ukraine" by supplying arms and imposing sanctions.

"The sanctions are already creating big damage to the Russian economy," he said, adding that over the summer "the economic situation will be very bad" for Russia. 

On food security, he said it is "clear that Russia is using wheat as a weapon, a weapon of war", underlining that: "you can't starve the world."

He acknowledged that exporting the 20 million tonnes of wheat currently stuck in Ukraine "will not be easy" and that "obviously we need an agreement with Russia."

'Time is now' on new sanctions: Michel

EU Council President Charles Michel told reporters leaders "would like also to take a step on the sanctions".

"It's important to decide. Time is now and I'm confident that we'll be able to take a decision all together and to express again a united position on that important topic," he added.

He said reaching a consensus is "not easy" but that "we've made progress in recent hours".

he also called for "concrete measures and decisions in order to end our dependencies, especially on Russian fossil fuels".

€100 billion boost to Germany's defence is 'epochal change': Scholz 

Upon his arrival, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke a lot about internal politics, but above all about the "epochal change" that Germany has made.

The country has decided to invest €100 billion in the armed forces. To do this, there was an agreement with the major opposition party and a change in the constitution was necessary, but "this will allow Germany to play an increasingly important role in the next international missions," Scholz said. 

Latvian leader rebukes Hungary over oil ban

Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš told reporters the 27 country bloc is getting "bogged down" on details over the oil ban and criticised member states that focus on their "personal benefits" for "missing the big picture" and preventing the EU from moving forward.

"It's only money, the Ukrainians are paying with their lives," he told reporters. 

On the war in Ukraine, he said that "the right compromise is for Russia to lose", stressing that "there is no compromise with Russia"

"We in Europe can help," he went on, by "supplying arms to Ukraine" and imposing "broad economic sanctions including oil, including gas" on Russia. 

'No agreement' on sanctions, says Orban

The Hungarian leader contradicted Ursula von der Leyen affirming that "there is no compromise at this moment at all."

"I just got a text and there is no agreement," he added. 

He then laid the blame for the protracted negotiations on the "irresponsible behaviour of the Commission", arguing that its proposal to put an embargo on Russian oil came "out of the blue".

"The first five sanctions packages were approached in a different way," he said, adding that "first we need solutions and then the sanctions."

"The proposal that we have got is not good. We are ready to support the package six if there are solutions for the Hungarian energy supply security," he continued.

He described the pipeline exemption as "not bad" and "a good approach" but said Hungary now needs "a guarantee that in the case of an accident" impacting the pipeline supplying Hungary and that runs through Ukraine, "we have to have the right to get Russian oil from other sources."

A senior EU official had earlier said that Hungary was now lobbying to be able to get Russian oil imported by ships through Croatia. 

Differences over sanctions to be resolved 'in next 48 hours': Von der Leyen

Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told reporters upon arrival at the summit that "we're not there yet" on the sixth round of sanctions against Russia, affirming however that the outstanding issues "will be solved in the next 48 hours."

Member states have "now basically solved all these issues but one", she went on, adding that discussions are still ongoing over "crude oil via pipeline."

Member states agree to pipeline exemption: Senior EU official

The EU is moving closer to validating its sixth round of sanctions against Russia. 

A senior EU official confirmed on Monday morning that there is an agreement "in principle" for an oil embargo by the end of the year that would exempt pipeline oil without a deadline. 

This exemption would primarily benefit Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, as well as Poland and Germany. 

Slovakia and the Czech Republic, which had sided with Hungary over the Commission's proposals, pledged to do whatever it takes to disconnect from Russian oil as soon as possible. 

Budapest, meanwhile. asked to be allowed to receive oil through ships via Croatia, the official said, expressing frustration at Hungary's position throughout the negotiations.

"It plays Moscow's game, they didn't convince us their objections are technical in substance," the official added, arguing Hungary is getting "isolated". 

Germany is expected to announce that it will disconnect from Russian oil by the end of the year. 

What the sixth round of sanctions could entail

The Commission had planned for a total ban on Russian oil, albeit phased, so that member states heavily dependent on Russian oil could have more time to find alternative sources.

Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria had all called for more time to wean themselves off Russian fossil fuels. Budapest, which receives all of its Russian oil via pipeline, had also demanded more EU funds to upgrade its infrastructure and to accelerate its transition.

These demands had more or less stalled the negotiations and revealed deep cracks in the EU's unity.

EU ambassadors, who met this morning ahead of the leaders' summit, discussed the possibility of exempting all pipeline oil so that only oil shipped to the EU via its ports — which represent between 70% and 85% of all Russian oil imported to the EU — would be banned.

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Good afternoon. I'm Alice Tidey and I'll be keeping you abreast of what's happening in Brussels today as leaders meet for a special summit.