BRUSSELS, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- European Union (EU) foreign ministers failed on Monday to reach an agreement on the 20th package of sanctions against Russia, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, after Hungary refused to back the measures ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russian-Ukraine conflict.
"This is a setback and a message we did not want to send today, but the work continues," Kallas told a news conference after talks in Brussels, adding that she also decided to cap the size of the Russian Mission in the EU at 40 people.
Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said on Monday that Budapest has made clear in the meeting that it will not support or approve the planned sanctions package, and will also block an EU proposal to provide Ukraine with a 90-billion-euro (106-billion-U.S. dollar) loan.
Szijjarto said Hungary will not support any EU decision that benefits Ukraine as long as Kyiv continues to halt oil deliveries to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline.
The Druzhba pipeline, which transports Russian oil to Central Europe via Ukraine, has faced repeated disruptions since last year amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Hungary has stated that although there are currently "no practical or technical obstacles," Ukraine has decided not to restart crude deliveries. ■
