The European Council president stated on Friday that an unusual meeting of EU leaders will be held at the end of May to tackle the Ukraine conflict and the energy crisis.
“On the 30th and 31st of May, a special European Council will be held.
“Defense, energy, and Ukraine are all on the agenda,” Charles Michel, who chairs the EU leaders’ meetings, stated on Twitter.
The talks are likely to be challenging since rising energy prices, worsened by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, have polarized EU member states.
Because of differing viewpoints on intervention in the energy market, leaders were unable to reach an agreement on how to address rising bills at their most recent summit in March.
Some EU members, such as Germany and Hungary, are also hesitant to impose a Russian energy embargo imports.
Since the beginning of the war on February 24, the EU has provided €1 billion in military aid and €500 million in humanitarian aid to Ukrainians, as well as imposing five sets of sanctions on Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, oligarchs, and military officers were among the 1,002 people and 32 entities targeted by the restrictive measures.
The EU has also barred Russian and Belarusian banks from using the SWIFT international financial system, as well as coal imports and luxury goods exports.