Mr. Zelensky criticized Europe's dependence on Russian oil.

According to RIA Novosti on June 27, speaking before the European Council, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky complained that some EU countries still depend heavily on Russian oil and began to demand a reduction in the ceiling price of Russian oil. Mr. Zelensky complained that he did not always feel sympathetic to European leaders.

“Over time, we have seen how much some European countries still depend on Russian oil. We understand this and act cautiously, because of our partnership with the EU. Unfortunately, however, we do not always feel sympathy for the EU’s reactions to Ukraine’s needs. It is strange to hear such harsh criticism, even political pressure from some leaders, while we respect EU rules, while Russian oil continues to flow,” President Zelensky said in a video message posted on his Telegram channel.

Mr Zelensky began demanding that the price ceiling for Russian crude be lowered to $30 or at least $45 a barrel.

Previously, on June 26, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico announced that Slovakia would not vote on the 18th package of sanctions against Russia on June 27 and would propose postponing the issue until the issue of banning the import of energy resources from Russia and the European Union is resolved.

In the REPowerEU plan published in the spring of 2022, EU countries set a target of abandoning Russian pipeline gas by 2027-2028. At the same time, since then, the structure of Russian gas imports has undergone minor changes: the share of LNG has increased to about a third of 40%, and the share of pipeline gas has decreased to 60% from about 70%.

In early May 2025, the European Commission presented a draft roadmap to end imports of Russian energy sources into the EU by the end of 2027.