Zelenskyy stressed that Russia continues to receive resources to continue the war from the energy sector, so measures must be taken to stop this.
“We should also support President Trump’s call to stop buying Russian oil here in Europe… And guys from Hungary need to hear this clearly. Energy from the US and other partners can fill the gap on the European market,” the president said.
According to him, the 19th package of EU sanctions is also important for putting pressure on Russia.
“And let’s also place more sanctions against captains and crews of shadow fleet vessels, as well as against the owners of the relevant companies. And we need to think about placing sanctions on Russian oil terminals and the rest of their mainland infrastructure,” the head of state added.
The EU still buys Russian oil and gas
White House chief Donald Trump has called on Europe to completely abandon the purchase of Russian energy resources, which the Kremlin uses to finance the war.
However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that Budapest would not abandon Russian gas and oil.
According to him, there are two reasons for this: any other source of supply is less reliable than the Russian one, which is secured by long-term contracts, and that energy resources from other countries would be more expensive. As a result, prices for the population would have to be raised, which is another reason for Hungary’s reluctance to terminate contracts with Moscow.
Slovakia also continues to buy gas and oil from Russia, unlike other EU countries, which more or less stopped cooperating with the aggressor in this sector back in 2022.
Ukraine is trying to help Slovakia in its refusal to use Moscow’s energy resources. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently promised Bratislava alternative markets.