'Russian Energy resources play decisive role in Eastern Europe', admits Hungary

A day after the United States banned Russian oil imports, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on Wednesday said that energy resources from Russia play a decisive role in Eastern Europe. He said that his country will not make a decision to the detriment of its people.

"Energy resources from Russia play a decisive role in Eastern Europe, therefore Hungary will not make decisions from overseas to the detriment of its people," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden informed America would block imports of Russian crude to penalise Putin for invasion of Ukraine. Biden said he acted in consultation with European allies but admitted they are more dependent on Russian oil and gas and might not be able to take similar steps immediately.

"We're banning all imports of Russian gas, oil, and energy. We're moving forward with this ban understanding that many of our European allies and partners may not be in a position to join us," Biden said adding that "We are enforcing the most significant package of economic sanctions in history, and it's causing significant damage to Russia's economy."

Would a ban on Russian oil by the US hurt Moscow?

The ban on Russian oil by the United States is likely to be minimal as the country imports a small share of Russian oil and doesn't buy any of its natural gas.

Last year, round about 8% of the US oil and petroleum imports came from Russia. Altogether, the imports totalled approximately 245 million barrels in 2021, which was around 672,000 barrels of oil and petroleum products a day. However, Moscow's oil imports were falling sharply as US buyers shunned the fuel. 

Meanwhile, at the present time, a broad US-European ban seems unlikely. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday informed that his country, which is Europe's single-largest consumer of Russian energy, has no intention to join in any ban.

Russia says 'some progress' made in talks, army asked to not 'topple' Ukraine govt

On the 14th day of the war, Russia on Wednesday said that talks with Ukraine had made "some progress" after the delegations of two sides held their third round negotiations in Belarus. Addressing a press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that talks with officials from Kyiv to resolve the conflict were making 'heading' and informed that Russian troops had been asked not to topple the Ukrainian government.

"Some progress has been made," Maria Zakharova said during a press briefing. She added that the Russian military had not been tasked to "overthrow the current government."