"This will continue to deprive Moscow of the revenues necessary to finance its war. Russia must pay for the damage it causes," emphasized Kallas.
The press service of the EU Council added that the European Union's sanctions against Russia have been extended for another six months, until July 31.
"These economic measures, first introduced in 2014, have been significantly expanded since February 2022 in response to Russia's unprovoked, unjustified, and illegal military aggression against Ukraine. Currently, they consist of a wide range of sectoral measures, including trade, finance, energy, technology and dual-use goods, industry, transport, and luxury items," the release stated.
The sanctions also include a ban on the import or transfer of maritime oil and certain petroleum products from Russia to the EU, as well as the disconnection of several Russian banks from the SWIFT system, the EU Council added.
"As long as the illegal actions of the Russian Federation continue to violate fundamental norms of international law, including in particular the prohibition on the use of force, it is appropriate to maintain all measures imposed by the EU and to adopt additional measures if necessary," the authors of the statement added.
The sanctions were set to expire on January 31, and Hungary had blocked their extension. The issue was resolved after Hungary lifted its objections, wrote Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty editor Rikard Jozwiak in Europe.
According to sources from "Radio Svoboda", Budapest agreed to the extension of sanctions after the Committee of Permanent Representatives of EU Member States (COREPER) agreed on steps to support the energy security of Hungary and Slovakia. Among these steps are negotiations with Ukraine regarding the transit of energy resources, a EU official familiar with the negotiations told the media, but was not authorized to comment to journalists.
This involves the European Commission's commitments to continue negotiations with Ukraine to restore and stabilize its energy infrastructure, as well as to ensure uninterrupted transit of energy resources through Ukrainian pipelines to the EU. Hungary and Slovakia should be involved in the negotiations.