Hungary has blocked the approval of the latest package of EU sanctions against Moscow, this time not because of opposition to measures targeting Russia — but China, officials tell Eleni Varvitsioti and Javier Espinoza.

The EU is aiming to get its 13th package of sanctions against the Kremlin over the line by the two-year anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in nine days’ time. It would complement a €50bn financial support package for Kyiv, and a move to set aside profits from Russia’s immobilised sovereign assets.

Hungary was the sole naysayer at a meeting of EU ambassadors yesterday that otherwise would have signed off on the sanctions package, which targets almost 200 people and entities from Russia, China and other countries who are deemed to be helping Moscow’s war effort.