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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, Associated Press reported.

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, according to Associated Press.

“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, Associated Press reported.

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, according to Associated Press.

But Hungary led a group of EU countriesworried 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. 

Foreign Secretary Bharat Raj Paudyal held meetings with Secretary-General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Stefano Sannino; Managing Director for Asia and Pacific at the EEAS Gunnar Wiegand. He also meets other senior officials at the Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) and the Directorate-General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) of the European Commission at the European Union headquarters in Brussels today.

During the meeting with the Secretary-General of the EEAS, the Foreign Secretary discussed overall bilateral relations and cooperation between Nepal and the EU, reads the press statement. The Foreign Secretary participated in a lunch meeting hosted by the Managing Director for Asia and Pacific at the EEAS in the afternoon.  During the occasion, they discussed all major areas of Nepal-EU relations and also reviewed the areas of cooperation since the 13^th Joint Commission meeting held in Kathmandu in November last year.

The discussion focused on areas such as the socio-economic impact of COVID-19, development cooperation, economic relations and EU market access to Nepali products in the context of the planned graduation of Nepal from the LDC status, cooperation in climate change and environmental issues, air safety and access of Nepal’s airlines to the EU sky, among others, according to a press statement.  

They expressed satisfaction over the ongoing cooperation between Nepal and the EU and agreed to continue working towards further consolidating the cooperative relations.

The Foreign Secretary also held separate meetings with DG INTPA and DG CLIMA at the European Commission. During the meeting with Mr. Jean-Louis Ville, Acting Director for Middle East, Asia and Pacific at DG INTPA, they discussed various aspects of development cooperation between Nepal and the EU.

 Similarly, the meeting with Dimitrios Zevgolis, Head of Unit for Multilateral Affairs at DG CLIMA, focused on the issue of climate change and environment protection, and the cooperation in the areas of adaptation, and mitigation, climate finance and technology transfer.

The bodies of 10 persons, who lost their lives in Tara Air plane crash, have been brought to Kathmandu via Pokhara from Kowang Village in Thasang-2 of Mustang.

A Nepali Army chopper brought the bodies to Kathmandu at 6:30 pm today.

The bodies will be taken to the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) from the Tribhuvan International Airport.

The aircraft, which took off for Jomsom from Pokhara at 9: 55 am on Sunday, lost contact with the air traffic control office at 10: 10 am.

The plane was found crashed at Sanosware in Mustang district of Nepal on Monday.

There were 22 people including two German nationals, four Indians and 13 Nepali nationals on board the ill-fated aircraft when the incident occurred. No one survived the incident.

According to the Civil Aviation Office, Pokhara, the deceased have been identified as Indian nationals Vaibhavi Bandekar, Ashok Kumar Tripathy, Dhanush Tripathy and Ritika Tripathy, Nepali nationals Indra Bahadur Gole, Purushottam Gole, Raj Kumar Gole, Basanta Lama, Ganesh Narayan Shrestha, Rabina Shrestha, Rashmi Shrestha, Rojina Shrestha, Prakash Sunuwar, Makar Bahadur Tamang, Ram Maya Tamang, Suku Maya Tamang and Tulusa Devi Tamang.

The identities of the German nationals, however, are yet to be ascertained.

Lawmakers have said that India is conspiring not to build Nijgadh International Airport.

Speaking at the International Committee of Parliament on Monday, some lawmakers spoke about the international conspiracy, while others said India is against the construction of airport.

Former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal suggested the government draw the attention of the Indian government regarding the current obstructions in the construction of the airport

“India is building international airports in Raxual and Kushinagar to prevent the construction of Nijgad international airport. So Nepal government should talk with Indian side about it,” Nepal said.

Lawmaker Deepak Prakash Bhatta said there have been obstructions in the construction of the airport to make Nepal a client state.    In the meeting, other lawmakers stressed the construction of the airport removing all difficulties. 

The Nepal Stock Exchange (NEPSE) plunged by 50. 33 points to close at 2,173.44 points on Monday.

Similarly, the sensitive index dropped by 10. 33 points to close at 422. 74 points.

A total of 3,456,529 units of the shares of 227 companies were traded for Rs 1. 33 billion.

Meanwhile, Balephi Hydropower Limited was the top gainer today with its price surging by 9. 99 percent. Likewise, Nepal Investment Bank Limited was the top loser with its price dropped by 9. 99 percent.

At the end of the day, the total market capitalisation stood at Rs 3.09 trillion.

The government has formed a five-member commission to probe the Tara Air plane crash at Sanosware in Mustang district of Nepal that claimed the lives of 22 people including three crew members.

The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on Monday formed the Commission under the headship of senior Aeronautical Engineer Ratish Chandra Lal Suman.

Captain Dipu Jwarchan, Senior Maintenance Engineer Upendra Lal Shrestha, Senior Meteorologist Mani Ratna Shakya and Joint Secretary at the Ministry Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane are the other members of the commission.

The plane with call sign 9N-AET, which went missing over Mustang sky on Sunday, was found crashed on Monday morning. The wreckage of the aircraft was found scattered at Sanosware in Mustang district this morning.

There were 22 people including two German nationals, four Indians and 13 Nepali nationals on board the ill-fated aircraft when the incident occurred.

The plane had taken off for Jomson from Pokhara at 9: 55 am yesterday.

According to the Civil Aviation Office, Pokhara, the deceased have been identified as Indian nationals Vaibhavi Bandekar, Ashok Kumar Tripathy, Dhanush Tripathy and Ritika Tripathy, Nepali nationals Indra Bahadur Gole, Purushottam Gole, Raj Kumar Gole, Basanta Lama, Ganesh Narayan Shrestha, Rabina Shrestha, Rashmi Shrestha, Rojina Shrestha, Prakash Sunuwar, Makar Bahadur Tamang, Ram Maya Tamang, Suku Maya Tamang and Tulusa Devi Tamang.

The identities of the German nationals, however, are yet to be ascertained.

Newly elected representatives in the Kathmandu Metropolitan City took the oath of office and secrecy amidst a program in the Capital on Monday.

Rajkumar Khatiwada, chief returning officer in Kathmandu, administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mayor Balen Shah, Deputy Mayor Sunita Dangol among others.

Mayor Shah, an independent candidate, took the oath in both Nepali and Nepal Bhasa.

Later, Shah administered the oath to other elected representatives including Deputy Mayor Sunita Dangol.

The local elections were held on May 13.

All the 22 people including three crew members died when an aircraft of Tara Air crashed at Sanosware in Mustang district of Nepal, police said.

A team of Nepal Army and Nepal police personnel, who reached the incident site, are collecting the bodies.

Local Sumit Gauchan of Thasang Rural Municipality-3, who is at the incident site, said that no one was found alive.

“Twelve bodies have been found so far. Security personnel with the help of locals are searching for others,” he said.

The plane with call sign 9N-AET, which went missing over Mustang sky on Sunday, was found crashed on Monday morning. The wreckage of the aircraft was found scattered at Sanosware in Mustang district this morning.

There were 22 people including two German nationals, four Indians and 13 Nepali nationals on board the ill-fated aircraft when the incident occurred.

The plane had taken off for Jomson from Pokhara at 9: 55 am yesterday.

According to the Civil Aviation Office, Pokhara, the deceased have been identified as Indian nationals Vaibhavi Bandekar, Ashok Kumar Tripathy, Dhanush Tripathy and Ritika Tripathy, Nepali nationals Indra Bahadur Gole, Purushottam Gole, Raj Kumar Gole, Basanta Lama, Ganesh Narayan Shrestha, Rabina Shrestha, Rashmi Shrestha, Rojina Shrestha, Prakash Sunuwar, Makar Bahadur Tamang, Ram Maya Tamang, Suku Maya Tamang and Tulusa Devi Tamang.

The identities of the German nationals, however, are yet to be ascertained.

A team of nine persons, who had gone to pluck yarsagumba, and a team of local youths led by Sumit Gauchan found the aircraft today.