Slovakia blocks EU move to impose new sanctions package on Russia

The Guardian

7 hours ago

Update:
Date: 2025-07-15T15:45:07.000Z
Title: Kaja Kallas
Content: EU foreign policy chief says 'ball is in Slovakia's court' after leader Robert Fico blocked 'imbecile' proposal to ban Russian gas imports from 2028
Tom Ambrose (now) and
Jakub Krupa (earlier)
Tue 15 Jul 2025 17.45 CEST
First published on Tue 15 Jul 2025 09.27 CEST
From
4.59pm CEST
16:59
EU foreign policy chief is now briefing the media after today's foreign affairs council in Brussels.
She begins by talking about Ukraine and Russia:
'Russia's bombing campaign has reached record levels, and we see increasing use of banned chemical weapons by Russia in Ukraine. All this shows that Russia does not want peace.'
She then confirms that Slovakia blocked the adoption of the 18th package of sanctions today as she says:
'I'm really sad that we didn't reach this agreement today. I must say that we were really close to reassuring Slovakia. The commission has delivered what they asked for.
Now, the ball is in Slovakia's court, and we must get this deal done. It has been already two months.
Sanctions are necessary to starve Russia of the means to wage this war, and the European Union will keep rising the cost, so stopping its aggression becomes the only path forward to Moscow.'
She adds that she welcomes Trump's announcements last night, but says the EU 'would like to see the US to share the burden'.
'America and Europe are working together, and if we are working together, this can put the pressure on Putin to negotiate seriously. The only way to get Putin to end this war is to force his hand,' she said.
5.45pm CEST
17:45
EU foreign ministers will discuss Russian frozen assets during an informal meeting at the end of August, EU foreign policy chief said on Tuesday after a meeting with the ministers in Brussels.
'It's important that everybody hears everybody's arguments, and then we can also come up with compromises to address these sensitivities', Kallas said.
5.25pm CEST
17:25
Joseph Gedeon
Marjorie Taylor Greene has criticized Donald Trump over his new pledge to send 'billions of dollars' worth of weapons to Ukraine, accusing him of breaking a campaign promise by continuing the very aid that Republicans spent years blocking under Joe Biden.
'MAGA did not vote for more weapons to Ukraine,' the Georgia congresswoman, one of Trump's most staunch allies in Washington, wrote on X on Tuesday, referring to the 'Make America great again' moniker adopted by Trump's base of supporters. 'MAGA voted for no more US involvement in foreign wars.'
Trump's Oval Office announcement on Monday with the Nato chief, Mark Rutte, represented a pivot from his longstanding position of wanting to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict quickly, and a U-turn on the administration's rhetoric towards European defence more broadly.
The president said the sales would include a 'full complement' of weapons, including Patriot missiles.
'We will have some within days,' Trump said. Under the plan, he said European allies would swap existing Patriots for American-made systems and foot the bill by raising defense spending to 5% of GDP.
Updated
at 5.40pm CEST
5.12pm CEST
17:12
Jakub Krupa
I'm handing the blog over to Tom Ambrose who will guide you through the rest of the afternoon.
5.12pm CEST
17:12
Asked what she meant by saying that the US could share more of the burden on helping Ukraine with the new military deliveries, Kallas says:
'Well, if we pay for these weapons, it's our support. it's European support, and we are doing as much as we can to help Ukraine.
And therefore the call is that that everybody would do the same.
If you promise to give the weapons, but say that somebody else who is going to pay for it is not really given by you, is it?'
5.07pm CEST
17:07
Separately, Kallas also spoke briefly about Georgia – worrying that 'the assault on democracy by the Georgian Dream is growing more severe' and saying that 'Georgia's democratic backsliding will come at cost' – and Moldova, stressing that the country is 'a prime target of Moscow's hybrid war' and warning that anyone attempting to destabilise the country will face EU sanctions.
She later returns to Georgia, saying that suspending EU visa-free regime for Georgia could be on the table as the Georgian government needs to 'ensure and uphold the protection of fundamental rights of all Georgian citizens.'
She says:
'They have been given a deadline until the end of August to comply with this.
Then the question is, how do we then react if these recommendations have not been fulfilled? And as we hear that, for example, seven opposition leaders out of eight have been put in jail, this is not really in accordance with the you know, the first point that I pointed out.'
She adds that the EU does not want to hurt Georgian people and take the visa-free movement away from them, but adds 'it is also an issue of credibility for the EU.'
Updated
at 5.10pm CEST
5.05pm CEST
17:05
Kallas was also asked about Fico's comments (15:56), addressing them in very general terms saying that 'if you go into negotiations or worries you have, [and] your sensitivities are addressed, then it's … important that you don't present any anything on top of it.'
She says that further talks on technical level will continue on Wednesday, and suggests it's important to adopt the package to 'put the pressure on Russia,' but acknowledges that it's difficult to navigate the process with 27 member states.
She declines to say if she sees Fico's as reasonable.
5.02pm CEST
17:02
On the Middle East, Kallas says there are 'positive signs' in the aftermath of last week's humanitarian deal between the EU and Israel when it comes to Gaza, but 'Israel needs to take more concrete steps to improve the humanitarian situation on the ground.'
She added:
'I also presented ministers an inventory of different measures that could be taken in relation to the review done in June. So we had a discussion on this, and these are choices that the member states have to make.
We will keep these options on the table and stand ready to act if Israel does not live up to its pledges.
The aim is not to punish Israel. The aim is to really improve the situation in Gaza.'
4.59pm CEST
16:59
EU foreign policy chief is now briefing the media after today's foreign affairs council in Brussels.
She begins by talking about Ukraine and Russia:
'Russia's bombing campaign has reached record levels, and we see increasing use of banned chemical weapons by Russia in Ukraine. All this shows that Russia does not want peace.'
She then confirms that Slovakia blocked the adoption of the 18th package of sanctions today as she says:
'I'm really sad that we didn't reach this agreement today. I must say that we were really close to reassuring Slovakia. The commission has delivered what they asked for.
Now, the ball is in Slovakia's court, and we must get this deal done. It has been already two months.
Sanctions are necessary to starve Russia of the means to wage this war, and the European Union will keep rising the cost, so stopping its aggression becomes the only path forward to Moscow.'
She adds that she welcomes Trump's announcements last night, but says the EU 'would like to see the US to share the burden'.
'America and Europe are working together, and if we are working together, this can put the pressure on Putin to negotiate seriously. The only way to get Putin to end this war is to force his hand,' she said.
3.56pm CEST
15:56
Slovak prime minister Robert Fico has just publicly responded to the earlier Reuters report on the European Commission's reassurances for the country as officials seek to break the deadlock on the 18th package of sanctions against Russia.
Making the letter public on Facebook, Fico said the proposal was shared with leaders of other parties and rejected as insufficient, so the country will continue to delay the adoption of the latest round of sanctions on Russia.
In the letter, first reported by Reuters (14:08), European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said officials worked on 'an ambitious and comprehensive work plan with Slovakia in recognition of the particular challenges stemming from national circumstances' and commited to 'addressing the specific challenges for Slovakia.'
But Fico reiterated his opposition to 'imbecile' proposal to ban Russian gas imports from 2028, but said he was ready to negotiate on further guarantees that would make the proposal work for Slovakia, saying 'the best solution' would be to grant an exception to continue the existing gas delivery contract until its scheduled end in 2034.
While the gas proposal is unrelated to the sanctions package, Fico said he was linking the two to leverage Slovakia's position in the talks, as sanctions required unanimity among the member states.
In the meantime, the Slovak representative at today's foreign affairs council was told to request that the vote on the sanction package be delayed, he said.
Updated
at 4.04pm CEST
3.40pm CEST
15:40
Sam Levin
In other news, we reported earlier today on a disturbing story of an Irish tourist jailed by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for months after overstaying US visit by three days.
From there, what should have been a minor incident became a nightmarish ordeal: he was detained by Ice in three different facilities, ultimately spending roughly 100 days behind bars with little understanding of why he was being held – or when he'd get out.
'Nobody is safe from the system if they get pulled into it,' said Thomas, in a recent interview from his home in Ireland, a few months after his release. Thomas asked to be identified by a nickname out of fear of facing further consequences with US immigration authorities.
Despite immediately agreeing to deportation when he was first arrested, Thomas remained in Ice detention after Donald Trump took office and dramatically ramped up immigration arrests.
Amid increased overcrowding in detention, Thomas was forced to spend part of his time in custody in a federal prison for criminal defendants, even though he was being held on an immigration violation.
Thomas was sent back to Ireland in March and was told he was banned from entering the US for 10 years.
Thomas's ordeal follows a rise in reports of tourists and visitors with valid visas being detained by Ice, including from Australia, Germany, Canada and the UK. In April, an Irish woman who is a US green card holder was also detained by Ice for 17 days due to a nearly two-decade-old criminal record.
The arrests appear to be part of a broader crackdown by the Trump administration, which has pushed to deport students with alleged ties to pro-Palestinian protests; sent detainees to Guantánamo Bay and an El Salvador prison without presenting evidence of criminality; deported people to South Sudan, a war-torn country where the deportees had no ties; and escalated large-scale, militarized raids across the US.
Read Thomas's story here:
2.49pm CEST
14:49
Meanwhile, Swedish defence minister Pal Jonson confirmed to Reuters that the country will contribute to efforts to boost arms supplies to Ukraine following US president Donald Trump's decision to supply billions of dollars of weapons.
'We welcome the American decision to make possible increased sanctions against Russia and to pave the way for the delivery of Patriots and other weapon systems to Ukraine,' Jonson said in an emailed comment to Reuters.
'Sweden will contribute,' he added, without offering further details.
2.39pm CEST
14:39
Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal has just confirmed he filed his resignation from the post, a day after president Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked his deputy, Yulia Svyrydenko, to lead the government after a reshuffle.
In a Telegram message posted alongside a picture of his hand-written resignation note, he said:
'Thank you to our defenders who are holding the front and protecting Ukraine!
Thank you to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the trust!
Thank you to the entire team for their tireless work for our country!
Glory to Ukraine!'
Updated
at 2.43pm CEST
2.17pm CEST
14:17
There is a major news story breaking in the UK about thousands of people being relocated to the UK as part of a secret £850m scheme set up after a personal data leak of Afghans who supported British forces.
PA news agency reported that a dataset containing the personal information of nearly 19,000 people who applied for the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap) was released 'in error' by a defence official in February 2022.
The breach resulted in the creation of a secret Afghan relocation scheme – the Afghanistan Response Route – in April 2024.
The scheme is understood to have cost about £400m so far, with a projected cost once completed of about £850m. Millions more is expected to be paid in legal costs and compensation.
You can follow live updates here: