E.U. has renewed its sanctions on Russia after Hungary stopped holding up the move in return for a declaration on energy security
The European Union (E.U.) has renewed its wide-ranging sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine after Hungary stopped holding up the move in return for a declaration on energy security.
The sanctions include comprehensive trade bans and the freezing of Russia’s central bank assets. These measures, which require unanimous renewal by the E.U.’s 27 member states every six months, were set to expire on January 31. Failure to renew them would have unblocked Russian assets frozen in Europe that are currently being leveraged to support Ukraine, including contributing to a U.S. $ 50 billion G7-backed loan for the war-torn country.
Taking it to X, the E.U. High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – Kaja Kallas, posted,
Europe delivers: EU Foreign Ministers just agreed to extend again the sanctions on Russia.
— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) January 27, 2025
This will continue to deprive Moscow of revenues to finance its war.
Russia needs to pay for the damage they are causing.
The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, a close ally of Russia, had first called for consultations with the President of the United States (U.S.) – Donald Trump, before renewing the sanctions. He said that it is time for a “sanctions-free” relationship with Russia. However, Trump has not backed the Hungarian position. Trump had recently said that he would likely impose sanctions against Russia if Vladimir Putin refused to negotiate an end to the nearly three-year conflict.
Trump said, “If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.”
The European Commission, in response, issued a statement declaring its willingness to engage with Ukraine on maintaining energy flows through its gas pipeline network to Europe. Although the statement stopped short of explicitly committing to the resumption of Russian gas supplies, it offered reassurances to Hungary and Slovakia.
The Foreign Minister of Hungary – Peter Szijjártó expressed satisfaction with the European Commission’s assurances, stating, “The European Commission committed itself to the protection of the natural gas and oil pipelines leading to member states of the European Union.”
The President of Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has said he is willing to sign a contract to move Azeri gas through Ukraine to the E.U. However, attempts by Azerbaijan last year to broker agreements on gas swaps or continued Russian flows to Europe have so far failed, given its limited gas production capacity.
