Kaya Kallas / Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP
European Union countries are likely to decide to extend sanctions against Russia, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday. At the same time, Brussels is working on a compromise with Budapest to preserve the unity of the bloc, Reuters reports.
“I look forward to the decision to extend the existing sanctions,” Kallas said before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
Earlier this month, Hungary said it had not yet decided whether to support the extension of sanctions, which expire on 31 January. Budapest even threatened to veto the decision if the EU does not convince Ukraine to resume transit of Russian gas to Europe.
According to diplomats, EU ambassadors are discussing a compromise declaration on energy security that should take into account Hungary’s interests. This could pave the way for the approval of sanctions at the level of foreign ministers.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU has adopted 15 sanctions packages. They include trade bans, asset freezes on the Russian central bank and other restrictions.
The use of frozen Russian assets became a source of funding for the $50 billion loan that the G7 countries provided to Ukraine. In the long term, these assets are seen as a potential source for Ukraine’s post-war recovery.
The extension of sanctions used to be considered a formality, but recently Hungary’s position, sometimes supported by Slovakia, has made decision-making more difficult.
