EU leaders agree to prolong Russia sanctions: officials
BRUSSELS: The EU’s 27 leaders on Thursday agreed to extend sanctions on Russia for another six months, dispelling fears that Kremlin-friendly Hungary would allow the measures to lapse, officials said.
The decision at a summit in Brussels means that the EU’s sweeping sanctions over the war in Ukraine, including the freezing of more than €200 billion in assets of the Russian central bank (US$234 billion), will remain in force until at least early 2026.
It follows reports that officials were drawing up contingency plans to keep the bloc’s economic punishment of Moscow in place should Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, refuse to budge.
EU counterparts had feared that Budapest’s refusal to renew the measures could leave a gaping hole in the leverage the bloc holds over Russia as the United States pursues peace efforts.
Orbán took the decision to the wire the last time the sanctions – which must be renewed every six months – were due for renewal in January.
While the EU ensured its existing measures remain in place, it failed to secure agreement on a new package of sanctions owing to a block by Slovakia.
Slovakia’s prime minister, Robert Fico, refused at the summit to give the green light to the new round of sanctions, citing a separate dispute with Brussels over plans to phase out imports of Russian gas by the end of 2027.
Slovakia remains dependent on Russian gas and earns revenue from transit fees for supplies piped across its territory.
Fico held talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen earlier on Thursday but failed to obtain the concessions he sought and announced he would hold up approval of the sanctions package.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, urged EU leaders in a video address to adopt a robust package “targeting Russia’s oil trade, shadow tanker fleet, banks and supply chains that facilitate the production of weapons”.
Officials say, however, that a bid to lower the cap on Russian oil export prices has been shelved after Washington declined to back the measure as part of a broader G7 initiative.
By RSS/AFP
