No agreement has been reached on the sixth EU sanctions package to be imposed on Russia, including oil supplies, and intensive talks continue, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said on Monday.
Following a one-day meeting between EU foreign ministers in Brussels, Josep Borrell said there was still a lack of unanimous support from EU member states for the proposed ban on oil imports.
Responding to a question, he said that during the meeting, the ministers had a sincere discussion on the position of each member state, and Hungary also described the economic difficulties in introducing new sanctions.
“Of course, the sanctions cost money. It hurts those who are sanctioned and affects those who impose them. ”
– he said.
According to him, negotiations on an agreement could take days, or even weeks, of all the details that the Member States may face. However, there is already a consensus that the European Union must end its dependence on Russian energy as soon as possible.
“We need to break this strong bond that makes us very vulnerable,” he said.
Borrell said at a news conference:
the European Union will not recognize a single square kilometer of territory that Russia has taken from Ukraine.
“We will not allow Moscow to claim even a single territory of Ukraine,” he said.
The head of EU diplomacy said the foreign ministers had decided to provide an additional € 500 million to Kyiv for arms purchases, bringing the total amount earmarked by the EU for this purpose to € 2 billion.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba, who was a guest at a part of the meeting, said in a statement at the end of the meeting that
the European Union must stop importing Russian oil and gas, otherwise, it risks paying twice for the war in Ukraine.
If EU members continue to buy gas and oil from Russia, it means the EU will pay Russia for energy supplies while providing financial assistance to Ukraine, he said. He also stated that the EU would continue to “finance the Russian military machinery, its aggression and atrocities” with its energy imports.
Responding to a question about EU sanctions and Hungary, he said the two countries had been neighbors for centuries and, as in the past, needed to find a solution to the problems. Declared by:
understands why a package of sanctions against Russia, including an oil embargo, will not be adopted, but it is up to the European Union to reach an agreement on this issue between the Member States.
“It is not my job to fight rhetorically with the Hungarian authorities, the European Union must resolve this issue,” he said.
He said that the adoption of the new sanctions package and the planned EU arms aid to Ukraine was well underway. However, he regretted the delay in granting his country EU candidate status.
Ukraine does not hope for immediate membership but considers that there is no reasonable explanation for its denial of candidate status.
– he told.
Kuleba also stressed that Ukraine opposes any EU austerity measures that do not include the embargo on oil from Russia. Finally, he called the process of adopting another package of sanctions against Russia irreversible and called for increased pressure on Moscow until, as he said, Ukraine wins the war.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters during the day that a country was blocking the adoption of an EU sanctions package.
He believed that Ukraine should close the gas pipeline to Hungary. “If delivery is stopped, the problem will be solved”
– he said. No country can veto such a strategic decision, the head of Lithuanian diplomacy added.
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