Ukraine's President Zelenskyy criticizes EU disunity on sanctions against Russia

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on May 26 accused the EU nations of staying divided on approving the sixth round of sanctions against Russia despite “holding such power” to impose a total oil embargo. Ukraine’s leader expressed frustration with EU for holding back the sixth sanctions package, saying that the European struggled to reach a consensus on its latest sanctions, funding the brutal war in Ukraine. "How many more weeks will the European Union try to agree on a sixth package?" Zelenskyy asked during a late-night address.

"Of course, I am grateful to those friends who are advocating new sanctions. But where do the people blocking this sixth package get their power from? Why are they allowed to hold such power?" said the Ukrainian leader.

A unanimous voting by 27 member states failed

Zelenskyy’s remarks come as Hungary, Russia’s ally, withheld sixth round of EU’s sanctions against Russia citing that there was no alternative to Russian gas.  An EU-wide embargo requires unanimous voting by all of its 27 member states. In his address, Zelenskyy accused Moscow of carrying out a "genocide" in the eastern Donbass region. He accused Russia of attacking civilians and destroying infrastructure in Severodonetsk. He also reiterated that such heavy shelling will  bombardment could leave the area in the east of turn Ukraine into “uninhabitable." "All this, including the deportation of our people and the mass killings of civilians, is an obvious policy of genocide pursued by Russia," he said.

President Zelensky earlier also stressed on need to adopt the sixth package of European Union sanctions demanding unanimous voting. He also asked for seventh package with even stronger restrictions. "It is necessary not only to finally agree on the sixth sanctions package against the Russian Federation, including the embargo on oil, oil mixtures and oil products, but also to prepare the seventh sanctions package with even stronger restrictions on Russia for terror against Ukraine," said Zelenskyy, addressing the parliament. 

European Union's sixth package of sanctions against Russia that involved phasing out the Russian oil by the end of 2023 was blocked earlier as the bloc stood divided due to Russian energy reliance. European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Paolo Gentiloni made an official announcement that the sixth package proposed by the EU as a response to the Russian special military operation in Ukraine was blocked as all leaders of the EU nations could not reach a unanimous decision.