(Bloomberg) -- The European Union approved a sixth package of sanctions including a partial ban on Russian oil imports after Hungary dropped objections that had been holding it up for weeks.

EU ambassadors meeting on Thursday backed the measures, which would represent the EU’s toughest yet and are aimed at curbing Russia’s ability to finance the war in Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter. 

The measures would forbid the purchase of crude oil from Russia delivered to member states by sea in six months and refined petroleum products in eight months. Pipeline crude would be temporarily spared as a concession to Hungary and other landlocked countries, which rely on Russian supplies through the Druzhba pipeline.

The sanctions package will also see Russia’s biggest bank, Sberbank, cut off the international payments system SWIFT. The same restriction also targets Credit Bank of Moscow and the Russian Agricultural Bank. The measures will be adopted once they are published in the EU’s official journal. 

Hungarian Block

Sanctions in the EU require the unanimous consent of its 27 nations and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had blocked the latest package of measures for weeks.  

EU envoys agreed to drop Patriarch Kirill, who heads the Russian Orthodox Church and has been a vocal supporter of President Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine, from the EU’s proposed list of sanctioned individuals. Orban first demanded his removal in early May but it wasn’t discussed at a meeting when EU leaders met on Monday, according to people familiar with the issue. His demand angered many EU ambassadors but they ended up accepting Hungary’s demand to ensure adoption. 

Hungary’s stance strained relations with the EU, sparking speculation over whether Budapest would one day follow the UK in leaving or being forced out of the bloc. 

The package includes a ban on insurance related to shipping oil to third countries, which will take effect six months after the formal adoption of the measures, and aims to restrict Moscow’s options to divert its supplies elsewhere in the world.

Dozens more individuals, including Alina Kabaeva, a former Olympic gymnast “closely associated” with Putin, would be added to the bloc’s list of sanctions.

During the meeting of EU leaders on Monday, the bloc granted assurances that Budapest could source alternative oil supplies should Hungary’s pipeline deliveries be disrupted.

(Updates with details of the sanctions package from the fifth paragraph.)

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