Ukraine opposes EU sanction lacking ban on Russian oil exports

BRUSSELS – Ukraine’s foreign minister said Monday that Kyiv expects the European Union’s sixth sanction package against Russia to include a ban on Russian oil exports.

Dmytro Kuleba’s remarks came after an European Union (EU) foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels.

Noting that it was not clarified whether the sixth sanctions package would be approved on Monday or whether it would address the issue of Russian oil exports, Kuleba said Hungary was apparently the only country raising opposition.

Ukraine is not planning to hold talks with its neighbor Hungary, Kuleba said, adding this matter should be resolved within the EU structure.

Also commenting on the EU’s seventh sanctions package, the Ukrainian foreign minister said Russian exports should be directly targeted as the Ukrainian economy suffered more from the war than Russia did from sanctions.

Kuleba went on to note that the meeting also focused on Ukraine’s accession to the EU and there was not any rational argument hindering such a course of action, but Kyiv did not seek to join the organization overnight.

At least 3,668 people have been killed and 3,896 injured in Ukraine since Russia began its war on February 24, according to UN estimates. The true toll is believed to be much higher.

Over 6.2 million people have fled to other countries, with some 7.7 million people internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.