The European Union has agreed to prolong for 6 months a raft of sanctions aimed at depriving Russia of funds to finance its war against Ukraine.

The European Union renewed its wide-ranging sanctions on Russia on Monday for another six months after Hungary stopped holding up the move in return for assurances about energy security. "Europe delivers: EU Foreign Ministers just agreed to extend again the sanctions on Russia,

Hungary's representatives have not yet agreed to a decision on the extension of EU sanctions against Russia. The issue will be considered at an EU Council meeting at foreign minister level on Monday,

The Kremlin said on Thursday it saw nothing particularly new in a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to hit Russia with new sanctions and tariffs if it did not agree to end the war in Ukraine.

The European Union is unlikely to propose phasing out Russian liquefied natural gas as part of a new package of sanctions targeting Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter.

EU foreign ministers will consider the extension of sanctions against Russia. Hungary may block the decision if its demand is not met, states Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto on his Facebook page.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she expected the bloc to renew its sanctions on Russia on Monday after Hungary signalled it would stop holding up the move in return for assurances about energy security.

Hungary prolonged its blockage of the renewal of sanctions against Russia as Prime Minister Viktor Orban called on the European Union to pressure Ukraine to re-establish the transit of Russian gas to Europe.

The European Union requires a unanimous vote to extend sanctions on Russia, a situation Hungary's Viktor Orban wants to use to pressure the bloc into forcing Ukraine to reopen a transit pipeline for Russian gas.