That's it from us. Have a good evening!

Summit conclusions on energy

The Council calls for:

• "as a short term priority", further diversifying supply sources and routes by using the EU Energy Purchase Platform, exploring "with our international partners ways to curb rising energy prices, including the feasibility of introducing temporary import price caps where appropriate";
• an acceleration in the deployment of renewables  which will "require immediate speeding up permit-granting procedures";
• improving energy efficiency;
• "completing and improving the interconnection of European gas and electricity networks by investing in and completing infrastructure for existing new projects" for LNG and hydrogen as well as for renewable production capacity;
• an improvement in the bloc's preparedness to possible major supply disruptions by agreeing on "bilateral solidarity agreements and a coordinated European contingency plan".

Summit conclusions on security and defence

• EU to "resolutely" implement the Strategic Compass, "reinforce its partnerships, enhance its resilience and increase its security and defence capacity" through more and better investments, focusing on identified strategic shortfalls";
• The European Council called on the Council to examine several issues including:
  ​ "as a matter of urgency, measures to coordinate very short=term defence procurement needs" to replenish stocks and a "short-term tool to reinforce European defence industrial capabilities through voluntary joint procurement";
  
  "the development of an EU defence strategic programming, procurement and coordination capability, in complementarity with NATO";
  
  "further measures to map the current and necessary additional manufacturing capabilities and to reinforce the capacity and resilience of the European defence technology and industrial sector.

Summit conclusions on food security

The Council:

• "invites Member States to accelerate work on "Solidarity Lanes"" and to "facilitate food exports from Ukraine via different routes and EU ports;
• "calls for effective international coordination to ensure a comprehensive global food security response" and "supports" the UN Global Crisis response Group, the upcoming G7 initiative establishing a Global Alliance for Food Security as well as other EU and multilateral actions;
• "invites the Commission to explore the possibility of mobilising reserves from the European Development Fund to support the most affected partner countries".

Germany phasing out coal by year-end: Scholz

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters that Berlin has decided to phase out coal by the end of the year and that as a direct consequennce of Russia's attack on Ukraine, it also aims to be independent on Russian oil and gas.

Germany, which receives most of its imported Russian oil via pipeline could continue to get Russian supply under the temporary oil ban exemption for pipeline oil, but it has pledged to wean itself off completely by the end of the year as well. 

Scholz said that Germany is setting up LGN terminals in the North Sea and Baltic Sea to receive gas imports from alternative sources and that the required ships have been ordered. 

"This has to happen quickly," he said, noting that "other things will take a bit longer".

But he highlighted neighboring countries will benefit as they will be linked to Germany's grid. 

Macron hails 'historic' sanction package

The French President called the sixth round of sanctions against Russia "historic."

"Two months ago no one thought sanctions on Russian oil were possible. And many of the leaders were in front of you saying: we will never touch oil and gas, that's for sure," he said.

On possible next rounds of sanctions and whether a ban on Russian gas could be implemented, he said: "I don't think we should rule anything out for the coming weeks. Everything depends on the situation on the ground. I think we should not exclude anything".

Here are the conclusions:

I'll be breaking them down in coming posts but for those who don't want to wait: 

'Severe food crisis' is Russia's fault: VDL

Asked to comment on Russia's assertion that the food crisis is because of Western sanctions Russia, von der Leyen said that "the fact that there is  severe food crisis developing is only the fault of Russia's unjustified war."

She emphasised that Russia is "not only blocking the export of Ukrainian wheat, it is bombarding warehouses where wheat is stored deliberately" as well as "mining the fields". 

She also highlighted that the EU has "no sanctions on food and agricultural products" and that third countries have access "to all fertilizers from Russia."

"It's complete misinformation from Russia's side," she said. 

Member states have already cut imports of Russian oil: VDL

The Commission President refuted criticism that the oil ban allows member states to continue getting most of their oil needs from Russia until the end of the year, stressing that the sanctions package plans for a "wind-down period till the end of the year".

She stressed that there has been a "clear reduction of (Russian) oil already".

She noted that Germany was getting 35% of its oil imports from Russia at the beginning of the year and that it has now gone down to 12%.

EU gas storage facility at 41% capacity: VDL

The head of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, praised the Russian oil ban, which "comes at a time when we see Russia has disrupted supplies to, by now, five member states" referring to Bulgaria, Poland, Finland as well as companies in the Netherlands and Denmark.

She said the RePower EU plan should provide a clear roadmap to get rid of Russian fossil fuel dependencies and mentioned that EU gas storage "is already filled at 41%" which is "5% higher than it was the case last year at the same date."

Earlier this month, the Council and Parliament approved a draft law that stated that member states' gas storage capacities must be filled to 80% before the start of the coming winter. 

EU looking into import price caps: Michel

European Council President Charles Michel said it is "extremely important to work on the possibility, to explore the possibility of import price caps, also with international partners" as a means to tackle the energy crisis.

He reiterated that the EU's energy strategy needs to focus on diversification, energy efficiency, investments in infrastructure and energy interconnection and in renewables. The EU also needs to step up its preparedness to possible supply disruptions.

Cyprus President briefs EU leaders on 'illegal actions' by Turkey

Croatia tells Hungary 'solution lies in EU infrastructure'

Croatia's Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Davor Filipovic and Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto met on Tuesday to discuss "security of energy supply in the context of the Russian aggression on Ukraine," Filipovic said on Twitter.

"We pointed out that the solution lies in the use of EU energy infrastructure, such as the LNG terminal on Krk, refineries and the Adriatic oil pipeline," the Croatia official added. 

What Macky Sall told EU leaders

The head of the African Union warned that the food crisis "particularly affects our countries because of their strong dependence on Russian and Ukrainian wheat production".

He also stressed that "fertilizers, if available at all, are now three times more expensive than in 2021."

"According to some estimates, cereal yields in Africa will drop by 20 to 50% this year," he added.

Russia and Belarus provide over a third of the world's exports of potash but supplies have been impacted by Western sanctions on Russia and Belarus. One of Belarus's main potash miners has also declared force majeure.

Sall said he wants "to see everything possible done to free up available grain stocks and ensure transportation and market access to avoid the catastrophic scenario of shortages and widespread price increases."

"This is where we are asking for support from our partners. I know that there is also the issue of the blockage of the port of Odesa which prevents the disposal of grain stocks. We support the proposed UN mechanism to help unblock the situation," he said. 

Conclusions on food security adopted by leaders: Official

A senior EU official has confirmed that EU leaders have adopted conclusions on food security following an address by African Union President Macky Sall.

Charles Michel said that the "EU is sparing no efforts to free Ukraine's exports over land and exploring alternative sea routes."

Ukraine not enthusiastic about sanctions

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Head of the Office of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is seemingly not impressed with the discussions happening in Brussels.

"Russia must not win, but we won’t give heavy weapons – it may offend Rf (Russian Federation). Putin must lose but let’s not impose new sanctions. Millions will starve, but we’re not ready for military convoys with grain. Rising prices are not the worst that awaits a democratic world with such a policy," he wrote on Twitter earlier this morning.

Leaders looking at exporting Ukrainian grain through Bulgaria and Romania: Petkov

There are two different options EU leaders are looking at to enable Ukraine to export the 20 million tonnes of grain currently stuck in the country, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov told reporters.

The issue is particularly important as agricultural exports represent a significant source of revenue for the Ukrainian economy and because Ukraine produces the food that feeds 400 million of the world's poorest people. The war has increased prices for commodities including wheat and has led to warnings of famine in some African and Middle Eastern countries. 

The first option, according to Petkov, would be the creation of "blue corridors" in the Black Sea allowing for safe shipping. Negotiations are currently taking place between Russia, Ukraine, the EU and Turkey, which controls access to the Black Sea, Petkov said.

One of the main issues here is that Ukraine has mined the maritime path to Odesa to slow down Russian warships and it would need guarantees that if it demines the area, Russia would not use the route for its military. 

According to Petkov, leaders are also "discussing the possible option of getting some of the grain through Varna (in Bulgaria) and Constanta in (Romania) -- the two ports that are closer to Odesa."

"Of course that will make it more expensive than the other option but it's more sure option because we do not depend on Putin," he argued. 

African Union chief addresses food security with leaders

Mack Sall, the President of Senegal and of the African Union is video conferencing into the summit meeting to talk food security. This suggests the discussions on energy may have ended.

'Watershed moment' for EU energy: Irish PM

Taoiseach Micheal Martin described himself as "very pleased" with the sixth package of sanctions and the ban on Russian oil and lauded the EU's unity.

"What is very clear though is that we are at a watershed moment in terms of EU dependency on Russian oil and gas," he added>

He also said that the oil ban, couple with the EU's climate change agenda, "is a watershed moment in terms of fossil fuels in general which will make for fairly rocky territory over the next number of years in terms of pricing around fossil fuels."

"We cannot get away from that," he stressed, calling for the bloc to "double down on renewables."

He also spoke of "huge concern in many member states" over the food security crisis which he said was engineered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"It's all very very difficult and a very significant humanitarian crisis still awaits us," he warned.

Czech Republic's Russian oil exemption applies for 18 months: President

Petr Fiala took to Twitter this morning to laud the "excellent results" of the summit's first day, including the ban on seaborne Russian oil.

He also said that the Czech Republic "will have an exemption that will apply for 18 months" during which "it will be possible to import products made from Russian oil into our country because we are not able to replace their outage immediately."

Banning Russian gas 'way more complicated': Belgian PM

Asked whether the EU should now look into a Russian gas embargo following the oil ban deal, Alexander De Cross said that "from the Belgian perspective, this package is a big step forward and I think we should pause it by now."

"This package, let's put it first into practice. The impact of an oil ban is much bigger for Russian than for gas. For gas, it is also way more complicated," he added.

First up...energy!

Pooling EU military spending to 'require a lot of political skill': Borrell

The EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell said that Tuesday's discussions will primarily focus on "how to improve defence capabilities of the Union's member states."

He argued that although member states individually increasing defence expenditure is positive, it should be done "in a coordinated manner" to avoid duplication in capabilities which would be "a big waste of money". 

He conceded however that working out how to proceed with a coordinated defence expenditure strategy "is not going to be easy" because defence is at the "core of nations' sovereignty" and that it will therefore "require a lot of political skill" to achieve. 

On the sixth round of sanctions against Moscow, he described the pipeline oil exemption as "a reasonable way out of the discussion".

He also acknowledged that the EU "cannot prevent Russia to sell their oil to someone else" but flagged that as "we are the most important client for Russia, they will have to look for another one and certainly they will have to lower the price" and thus grant Moscow less money to wage war. 

Oil ban is 'fantastic step in right direction': Latvia

Latvian PM Krisjanis Karins said the deal struck on monday evening by leaders shows that "the EU is still united in its purpose" to "stop Russia's aggressive war in Ukraine."

The ban on Russian oil imports "will cut about two-thirds of Russia's oil exports to the EU which means two-thirds of the money that we send to Russia will no longer be sent and this is very very good news indeed," he went on. 

"I have argued from Feb 24 that we need immediate and full energy sanctions: oil, coal and gas," he also said, adding: "I think it's a fantastic step in the right direction to make it ever more difficult for Russia to fund" the war.

'Next sanctions will be more difficult': Estonia

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told reporters as she arrived at the summit on Tuesday that "we have to discuss already the seventh package" of sanctions.

"As long as the war if going on, there is no peace, Ukraine hasn't won the war, we haven't done enough.

"All the next sanctions will be more difficult," she went on, as they are "now also having effects on Europeans."

"I think gas has to be in the seventh package but I have to be realistic and I don't think it will be there," she also said.

On the sixth round of sanctions, agreed the previous night, she said that "everybody was constructive."

"If I had to choose between a compromise or no sanction at all then I think it's a fair compromise," she added. 

'Hungarian families can sleep well tonight': Orban on oil ban deal

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban is touting the carve-out he managed to secure for his country.

"Brussels' proposal would have been similar to an atomic bomb, but we managed to avoid it," he said.

What the Russian oil ban deal includes

The embargo will target only seaborne imports, while excluding pipeline supplies.

Around two thirds of Russian oil imported to the EU is shipped in via ports, with the rest coming directly through the Druzhba pipeline, a massive conduit that directly feeds refineries in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Germany. These refineries have for decades grown accustomed to the reliable and comparably cheap deliveries of a specific type of Russian oil. 

Von der Leyen said that, by the end of the year, over 90% of Russian oil will have been targeted, based on individual commitments made by Poland and Germany, who have pledged to ban their imports from Druzhba's Northern branch.

The latest raft also includes the expulsion of Sberbank, Russia's largest bank, from the SWIFT system and the blacklisting of individuals involved in alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine.

READ MORE HERE.

Good morning and welcome to day 2 of the EU Council summit in Brussels. I'm Alice Tidey and I'll be taking you through the day as leaders, fresh from agreeing on a sixth round of sanctions against Russia, will discuss energy and food security.