Borrell unsure EU states will reach consensus on anti-Russia sanctions

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EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell expressed doubts on Monday that 27 member states will be able to reach a consensus over the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, as divisions are strong.

At the doorstep of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting, Borrell indicated that "we will do our best in order to deblock the situation, I can not ensure that this [sixth package of sanctions] is going to happen because the positions are quite strong."

The diplomat added that Brussels understands "the particular situation of some member states" opposing the Russian oil embargo, but noted that all are making an effort "in order to present a united front against Russia."

It is noteworthy that Hungarian Prime Minister Orban stressed that the EU proposal for an embargo on Russian energy resources is "tantamount to atomic bomb" for the Hungarian economy, which will need at least five years to diversify its energy supply - under the EU's proposal, they only have till 2023.
 
A couple of days ago, an EU source told Sputnik that Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, has been "unsuccessful" in persuading Hungary to join the EU embargo on Russian oil in their latest sanctions.

Von der Leyen traveled to Budapest to convince Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to agree on the EU sanctions against Russia.

According to Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, Von der Leyen could not convince Budapest that it could safely join sanctions without putting the country's energy security at risk. The Foreign Minister stressed that Hungary will insist on exempting pipeline oil imports from the sanctions.

In response to the EU's recent plan to impose an embargo on Russian oil, Russia's President Vladimir Putin had warned that the West has precipitated a worldwide economic catastrophe and a wave of catastrophic inflation by imposing the most punitive sanctions on Russia in recent history in response to the war in Ukraine.