BRUSSELS – The European Union agreed a 6-month extension Monday for a raft of sanctions aimed at depriving Russia of funds to finance its war against Ukraine after Hungary lifted its objections to the move.
The sanctions target trade, finance, energy, technology, industry, transport and luxury goods. They include a ban on the import or transfer of seaborne crude oil and certain petroleum products from Russia to the EU. They will now remain in place at least until July 31.
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Some measures were introduced in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, but the list grew significantly after Moscow's full-fledged invasion of its neighbor almost three years ago.
On Friday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called on the EU to intervene in a gas dispute that his country has with Ukraine. He said Kyiv’s decision to halt the transit of Russian gas into Central Europe had forced Hungary to turn to alternative routes, which raised energy prices.
To satisfy Orbán's demand, the European Commission attached a statement to Monday’s sanctions rollover agreement, saying that it “expects all third countries to respect” EU energy security, and warned that it could take action to protect critical infrastructure like oil and gas pipelines.
“Hungary has received the guarantees it has requested concerning the energy security of our country,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in a statement. All 27 EU member countries must agree for the sanctions to be prolonged.
But already last week EU diplomats and officials expected Hungary to end its threatened blockade on the measures after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose stiff taxes, tariffs and sanctions on Russia if an agreement isn’t reached to end the war in Ukraine.
In a post to his Truth Social site last Wednesday, Trump urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to “settle now and stop this ridiculous war.” Orbán is seen as Putin’s closest ally in the 27-nation EU, but he’s also a staunch admirer of Trump.