Hungary had delayed approving the sanctions for weeks. It demanded, among other things, the continuation of gas deliveries from Russia. The EU must approve the extension of sanctions every six months.
14:02•Updated 14:25
The foreign ministers of the European Union have agreed on the continuation of sanctions against Russia. EU foreign policy representative Kaja Kallas has told about it in the X service.
EU member states must make a unanimous decision on extending the sanctions every six months so that they do not expire.
Pro-Russian Hungary had refused to accept the renewal of sanctions for weeks. At first, Hungary said it wanted to wait for the US president Donald Trump’s taking office.
After this, Hungary began to demand that Ukraine would once again continue supplying natural gas from Russia to Central Europe. Ukrania stopped supplying gas at the turn of the year when the supply contract expired.
In order to appease Hungary, the EU Commission promised to include Hungary and Slovakia in the gas negotiations with Ukraine. In addition, the commission promised to ask Ukraine to commit to maintaining the gas pipelines in its territory.
Sources: AFP, Reuters