EU fails to pass new sanctions targeting Russia after Hungary objects

BRUSSELS — The European Union failed to pass new sanctions on Russia on Monday after surprise objections from Hungary, the bloc's top diplomat said.

''This is a setback and a message we did not want to send today,'' said Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief. Foreign ministers had scrambled to finalize the sanctions along with a massive new loan for Kyiv ahead of the fourth anniversary of a war that has left an estimated 1.8 million Russian and Ukrainian soldiers dead, wounded or missing.

Monday's meeting sought to make Russia pay a greater economic price for the all-out war it launched against its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022, and which shows no sign of ending.

Hungary, seen as the EU's most pro-Russian member, threatened over the weekend to hold up both the sanctions and the 90 billion euro ($106 billion) loan meant to help Ukraine meet its military and economic needs for the next two years.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz marked what he called ''four monstrous years of war'' at a pro-Ukrainian event in Berlin on Monday.

''I appeal again to our European partners: Do not let up in your support, in our common support, for Ukraine,'' Merz said. ''We are standing at a crossroads that could decide on the well-being of our whole continent.''

In Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that ''our determination to continue supporting Ukraine is unwavering.'' He met with Finland's President Alexander Stubb, another staunch supporter of Kyiv who urged European allies to raise the costs on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Many EU leaders had hoped to move forward on the 20th package of sanctions targeting Russia's shadow fleet and energy revenues before Tuesday's anniversary of the war.

But Hungary said it would stand firm until Russian oil deliveries to Hungary resume. It had previously agreed to the loan to Ukraine. Kallas said reneging on that goes against EU treaties.

Russian oil shipments to Hungary and Slovakia have been interrupted since Jan. 27 after what Ukrainian officials say were Russian drone attacks damaged the Druzhba pipeline, which carries Russian crude across Ukrainian territory and into Central Europe.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán doubled down Monday on an unsubstantiated allegation that Ukraine is deliberately holding back shipments of Russian oil, and accused Kyiv of seeking to topple his government. He referred to the oil supply disruptions as a ''Ukrainian oil blockade'' led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

''No one has the right to put our energy security at risk,'' Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told journalists ahead of the meeting.

Some European leaders stressed that the most effective way to get Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine is to raise the cost to Moscow of continuing the war.

''This war will only end when Russia no longer sees any sense in continuing it, when Russia can no longer expect more territorial gains, when Russia's costs for this madness have simply become too high,'' Merz said. ''We must dry up Moscow's war financing.''

Finland's leader argued that Russia's war was a ''strategic failure'' as he made the case for ratcheting up pressure on Putin.

''It is also a military failure — he is now losing many soldiers — and, on top of that, it is an economic failure,'' Stubb said, speaking in French. ''Putin is not winning this war, but he cannot make peace.''

The EU already has sent Ukraine 194.9 billion euros ($229.8 billion) in financial assistance while squeezing Russia's key energy exports.

Hungary's looming election

Facing a crucial election in less than two months, Orbán has launched an aggressive anti-Ukraine campaign and accused the opposition Tisza party, which leads in most polls, of conspiring with the EU and Ukraine to install what he called Monday a ''pro-Ukraine government aligned with Brussels and Kyiv.''

Poland's Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said he believed Hungary's veto threat could really be about Orbán's fierce fight to hold onto power.

Orbán, the EU's longest-serving leader, will face the greatest challenge to his power since he took office in 2010.

''I would have expected a much greater feeling of solidarity from Hungary for Ukraine,'' Sikorski said in Brussels. ''The ruling party managed to create a climate of hostility towards the victim of aggression. And then it is now trying to exploit that in the general election. It's quite shocking.''