Hungary tells partners to drop plans for oil embargo this month
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban yesterday told EU leaders to abandon their attempts to adopt an energy embargo on Russian oil before the end of the month.
He issued a warning to European Council President Charles Michel, who chairs EU summits, that tackling the issue at next week’s meeting in Brussels would be “counterproductive”.
EU negotiations over a sixth package of sanctions against Russia have been held up for weeks by Hungary’s objections to a plan to phase out purchases of Russian oil by early next year.
Mr Orban spoke out as Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to review efforts to restart Ukraine’s grain exports.
Mr Kuleba accused Russia of stealing Ukraine’s reserves after seeing satellite images of a ship being loaded in Crimea, the annexed Black Sea peninsula.
Following warnings from UK intelligence that Russian troops would inevitably seize Severodonetsk in the Donbas region and Kramatorsk, about 50 kilometres to the west, Mr Kuleba also made a plea for western countries to supply more weapons to Ukraine.
“Too early to conclude that Ukraine already has all the arms it needs,” he tweeted.
“Russian offensive in the Donbas is a ruthless battle, the largest one on European soil since WWII.
“I urge partners to speed up deliveries of weapons and ammunition, especially MLRS, long-range artillery, APCs.”
Russian forces are advancing from three directions to encircle the Ukrainian forces in Severodonetsk.
“The enemy has focused its efforts on carrying out an offensive in order to encircle [the area],” said Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of Luhansk province.
“The intensity of fire on Severodonetsk has increased by multiple times – they are simply destroying the city.”
Ukrainian officials alleged cracks had emerged at the top of the Russian system.
An assassination attempt has been made on President Vladimir Putin, claimed Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraine’s head of military intelligence.
He said an operation staged by “representatives of the Caucasus” took place in late March or early April.
“This is non-public information,”
EU negotiations over a sixth package of sanctions have been held up for weeks by Hungary’s objections
Mr Budanov told the Ukrainska Pravda news website. “Absolutely unsuccessful attempt, but it really took place.
“There is no publicity about this event, but it took place.”
Mr Putin is surrounded by a substantial security team. Western officials believe a successful assassination plot against him would prove extremely challenging.
“Putin has fewer contacts and he has fewer public engagements,” an official said on Monday.
“It’s a more controlled environment around him, so were anyone to attempt to do something like that, it would be a hugely complex operation.”
Mr Budanov said that a coup against Mr Putin was unlikely. But he suggested that Russian oligarchs, who are suffering from property seizures and sanctions, were in contact with Moscow security elements to discuss removing the president.
“The easiest way out for them is to replace Putin with another person,” he said.
“It can be said it was not Russia that is to blame for all the problems, but one person – Putin. It can be said he was a sick dictator, let’s remove all sanctions, remove all restrictions, start living anew. It wasn’t Russia’s fault, it was his fault.”
He suggested Mr Putin would “end the same” as Adolf Hitler or Libya’s Muammar Qaddafi.
Mr Budanov, 36, said Mr Putin, who is 70 in October, had suffered several illnesses “one of which is cancer”.
Mr Putin is understood to have met an oncologist 35 times in the last four years. There are suggestions that his puffy face might have been caused by steroids used to treat cancer.
However, western officials believe he still has an unchallenged grip on power.
“The observation is at the moment, President Putin is firmly in control of his inner circle,” an official said. “The country and the decisions which are being made, irrespective of expectation about his health, President Putin is still the decision-maker.”