Following the green light given by European leaders on Thursday 26 June (see EUROPE 13668/5), on Friday 27 June, Member States’ ambassadors to the European Union (Coreper) approved the renewal of economic sanctions against Russia for a further six months.
These sanctions include restrictions on trade, finance, energy, technology and dual-use goods, industry, transport and luxury goods.
Conversely, the ambassadors did not agree on the 18th package of sanctions against Russia, due to the reservations of two Member States. Hungary and Slovakia are linking the adoption of the package to assurances regarding the legislative proposal to ban Russian gas contracts by the end of 2027 (see EUROPE 13661/5).
The day before, the Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, had announced that, if his country’s request to postpone the vote on this package in order to resolve the energy issue was not accepted, “the Slovak ambassador would receive clear instructions to veto the adoption of the 18th sanctions package”.
Coreper will return to the subject once these two countries have withdrawn their reservations. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)