European Union countries Hungary and Slovakia will be able to continue buying Russian crude oil until the end of 2023 under existing contracts, Reuters has reported an EU source as saying.

As a consequence, this means both countries would be able to benefit from an embargo on Russian oil proposed by the European Commission.

The EU has been outlining plans this morning to ban imports of Russian crude oil within six months and refined oil products by the end of the year.

In a bid to convince reluctant and more-reliant countries not to veto the plans, Brussels has suggested a longer period to implement the embargo for Hungary and Slovakia, Reuters reports the source as saying.