BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union governments agreed Tuesday to reduce consumption of natural gas this winter to protect themselves against any further supply cuts by Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine, although the measure contains exemptions for some countries.

EU energy ministers approved a draft European law designed to lower demand for gas by 15% from August through March. The legislation entails voluntary national steps to reduce gas consumption, but if that does not yield enough savings, mandatory actions in the 27-member bloc would be triggered.

“I know that the decision was not easy, but I think, at the end, everybody understands that this sacrifice is necessary. We have to, and we will, share the pain,” Czech Industry Minister Jozef Sikela said after chairing the meeting in Brussels.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the move, saying in a statement that “the EU has taken a decisive step to face down the threat of a full gas disruption” by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The energy ministers approved the compromise legislation a day after Russian energy corporation Gazprom said it would cut gas flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany to 20% of capacity starting Wednesday. Natural gas prices jumped Tuesday to their highest level since early March, according to Europe’s TTF benchmark, and more than five times what they were a year ago.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February and the West moved to punish Moscow by imposing economic sanctions, 12 EU countries have faced halts to, or reductions in, their Russian gas deliveries.

Russia supplied about 40% of Europe’s natural gas before the war, but that has dropped to about 15%, sending prices through the roof and straining energy-intensive industries. Companies warn that they often can’t switch overnight to other energy sources.

The disruptions in Russian energy trade with the EU already are stoking inflation to record levels in Europe and threatening to trigger a recession just as the bloc was recovering from a pandemic-induced slump.

The energy squeeze also is reviving decades-old political challenges over policy coordination. While the EU has gained centralized authority over monetary, trade, antitrust and farm policies, national sovereignty over energy issues still largely prevails.

Under the ministerial agreement that was sealed in less than a week, the EU’s member nations are free to decide how best to meet the target of cutting 15% of their average annual gas use over the last five years.

France, for example, wants to save energy by turning down office thermostats in winter and ensuring that air conditioners in public buildings and shops are used more efficiently.

Exemptions are allowed for countries that might have specific vulnerabilities or find themselves particularly exposed to difficulties from certain cuts. The ministers diluted elements of the original proposal, including exemptions for island countries like Ireland, Cyprus and Malta, which don’t have as many energy alternatives.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, can ask members to consider triggering a mandatory system of cuts if it still fears a supply shortage in the next eight months. Any five member countries could also trigger a vote if they declare a gas supply alert at the national level.

The energy ministers scrapped a provision in the draft law that would have given the European Commission the power to decide on any move from voluntary to mandatory actions. Instead, the ministers ensured any decision on mandatory steps would remain in the hands of national governments.

The legislation was based on a July 20 proposal from the commission, which is eager to maintain a common EU front over a war that shows no sign of ending. It said coordinated rationing would enable the bloc as a whole to get through the winter should Russia stop all gas deliveries.

Tuesday’s deal still marked another milestone in EU policy integration and crisis management. Past EU legislative initiatives in the area of energy often involved months or years of negotiations among national governments.

“We have a blueprint to act together in a coordinated way,” EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said after the agreement was sealed. “This was a test for the unity and resolve of the union.”

Although the EU has agreed to embargo oil and coal from Russia starting later this year, the bloc has refrained from sanctioning Russian natural gas because Germany, Italy and some other member states rely heavily on imported gas.

“Germany made a strategic error in the past with its great dependency on Russian gas and faith that it would always flow constantly and cheaply,” said German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who is also responsible for energy and serves as the country’s vice chancellor. “But it is not just a German problem.”

Russia’s Gazprom has said the Nord Stream 1 cutbacks were necessitated by delays in receiving a repaired turbine for the pipeline. The turbine, which was repaired in Canada, has not been reinstalled yet, and another is expected to go offline because it needs repairs, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.

“The situation has been critically complicated by the restrictions and sanctions imposed on our country,” Peskov added. “If not for those restrictions, all maintenance, warranty, and service operations would have been carried out in a usual, routine, and prompt manner, without causing situations like the one we’re seeing now.”

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BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders agreed Monday to embargo most Russian oil imports into the bloc by year-end as part of new sanctions on Moscow worked out at a summit focused on helping Ukraine with a long-delayed package of new financial support.

The embargo covers Russian oil brought in by sea, allowing a temporary exemption for imports delivered by pipeline, a move that was crucial to bring landlocked Hungary on board a decision that required consensus.

EU Council President Charles Michel said the agreement covers more than two-thirds of oil imports from Russia. Ursula Von der Leyen, the head of the EU’s executive branch, said the punitive move will “effectively cut around 90% of oil imports from Russia to the EU by the end of the year.”

Michel said leaders also agreed to provide Ukraine with a 9 billion-euro ($9.7 billion) tranche of assistance to support the war-torn country’s economy. It was unclear whether the money would come in grants or loans.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, responded to the EU’s decision on Twitter, saying: “As she rightly said yesterday, Russia will find other importers.”

The new package of sanctions will also include an asset freeze and travel ban on individuals, while Russia’s biggest bank, Sberbank, will be excluded from SWIFT, the major global system for financial transfers from which the EU previously banned several smaller Russian banks. Three big Russian state-owned broadcasters will be prevented from distributing their content in the EU.

“We want to stop Russia’s war machine,” Michel said, lauding what he called a “remarkable achievement.”

“More than ever it’s important to show that we are able to be strong, that we are able to be firm, that we are able to be tough,” he added.

Michel said the new sanctions, which needed the support of all 27 member countries, will be legally endorsed by Wednesday.

The EU had already imposed five previous rounds of sanctions on Russia over its war. It has targeted more than 1,000 people individually, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and top government officials as well as pro-Kremlin oligarchs, banks, the coal sector and more.

But the sixth package of measures announced May 4 had been held up by concerns over oil supplies.

The impasse embarrassed the bloc, which was forced to scale down its ambitions to break Hungary’s resistance. When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed the package, the initial aim was to phase out imports of crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year.

Both Michel and von der Leyen said leaders will soon return to the issue, seeking to guarantee that Russia’s pipeline oil exports to the EU are banned at a later date.

Hungarian Prime minister Viktor Orban had made clear he could support the new sanctions only if his country’s oil supply security was guaranteed. Hungary gets more than 60% of its oil from Russia and depends on crude that comes through the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline.

Von der Leyen had played down the chances of a breakthrough at the summit. But leaders reached a compromise after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged them to end “internal arguments that only prompt Russia to put more and more pressure on the whole of Europe.”

The EU gets about 40% of its natural gas and 25% of its oil from Russia, and divisions over the issue exposed the limits of the 27-nation trading bloc’s ambitions.

In his 10-minute video address, Zelenskyy told leaders to end “internal arguments that only prompt Russia to put more and more pressure on the whole of Europe.”

He said the sanctions package must “be agreed on, it needs to be effective, including (on) oil,” so that Moscow “feels the price for what it is doing against Ukraine” and the rest of Europe. Only then, Zelenskyy said, will Russia be forced to “start seeking peace.”

It was not the first time he had demanded that the EU target Russia’s lucrative energy sector and deprive Moscow of billions of dollars each day in supply payments.

But Hungary led a group of EU countries worried over the impact of the oil ban on their economy, including Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. Hungary relies heavily on Russia for energy and can’t afford to turn off the pumps. In addition to its need for Russian oil, Hungary gets 85% of its natural gas from Russia.

Orban had been adamant on arriving at the summit in Brussels that a deal was not in sight, stressing that Hungary needed its energy supply secured.

Von der Leyen and Michel said the commitment by Germany and Poland to phase out Russian oil by the end of the year and to forgo oil from the northern part of the Druzhba pipeline will help cut 90% of Russian oil imports.

The issue of food security will be on the table Tuesday, with the leaders set to encourage their governments to speed up work on “solidarity lanes” to help Ukraine export grain and other produce.

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