The EU's top diplomat said she did not expect to get a deal on new Russia sanctions today after Hungary vowed to block them unless Ukraine re-opens a key oil pipeline.
The 27-nation bloc has been pushing to impose a new round of economic punishment on Moscow for tomorrow's fourth anniversary of the Kremlin's full-scale.
"I think there is not going to be progress regarding this today, but we will definitely make this push," Kaja Kallas, the EU high representative for foreign affairs, said at the start of a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán - the friendliest EU leader to the Kremlin - said yesterday that Budapest would veto the sanctions until the Druzhba pipeline is re-opened.
All the EU's 27 member states must give their approval before the new sanctions can take effect.
Ukraine says the Druzhba pipeline that crosses its territory to deliver Russian oil to Slovakia and Hungary was damaged 27 January by Russian strikes.
"I am astonished by the Hungarian position. We will discuss this with our Hungarian colleagues," German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said.
"I am also confident that, at the end of the day, we will be successful."
Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said "there is no actually reason to block" the sanctions as the pipeline closure was Russia's fault, not Ukraine's.
"If we are not able to put the sanctions on Russia, then Russia will be happy," he said.
Poland's top diplomat Radoslaw Sikorski called the Hungarian position "shocking".
Beyond the sanctions, Budapest has also thrown a last minute spanner in the works of a €90-bn EU loan for Ukraine desperately needed to keep Kyiv afloat.
Hungary has repeatedly stalled EU measures on Ukraine during the four-year war and Mr Orbán's hardline stance comes as he fights for political survival in an election this April.
The EU has already imposed 19 rounds of sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Brussels has proposed banning shipping services for Russian crude oil as part of the latest sanctions in a bid to further curb Moscow's revenues.
Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico said last night that he would follow through on his threats to cut emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine if Kyiv does not re-open the pipeline.
"I will request that emergency electricity deliveries to Ukraine be stopped," he warned on Facebook.
"If Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tells us to buy oil anywhere other than Russia even if it costs us a lot of money, we have the right to respond."
Russian strikes kill three in Odesa
Russian drone and missile attacks in Ukraine overnight killed at least three people and wounded several others, regional officials said today.
Two people were killed when drones struck the Odesa region, regional governor Oleg Kiper said, adding that three people were wounded.
In Zaporizhzhia, a drone attack on industrial facilities killed a 33-year-old man and wounded another, according to regional chief Ivan Fedorov.
