Russian diplomats early on Friday denounced the latest European Union sanctions imposed on Moscow in connection with its war on Ukraine, saying the new measures lacked UN legitimacy and infringed the rights of third countries.

Russian news agencies quoted a statement by diplomats at Russia's mission to the European Union as saying the measures were meaningless without a decision from the UN Security Council.

"We would like to remind you that only sanctions imposed by the decision of the UN Security Council are legitimate," state news agency TASS quoted the statement as saying.

"All others are unilateral coercive measures, and essentially – arbitrariness and aggression that contradict international law and the UN Charter."

RIA news agency said the statement accused the EU of restricting exports of specific goods to a number of countries cooperating with Russia and said this was "resorting to economic blackmail and extraterritorial application of sanctions".

The EU adopted its 20th package of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine after Slovakia and Hungary dropped their opposition to the move following the resumption of flows through the Druzhba oil pipeline.

The bloc also formally approved a 90-billion-euro loan to Ukraine, which is set to cover two-thirds of Ukraine's needs for the next two years. Economists had said Ukraine would start to run out of money by June if the EU loan was not disbursed by then, requiring deep cuts to public services.

According to a statement by the Council of the EU, the loan will cover Ukraine's most urgent budgetary and defence industrial capacity needs in 2026 and 2027 under a robust and conditional framework.

Funding will be linked to strict conditions on Ukraine's side, such as adherence to the rule of law, including the fight against corruption.

In February, the European Parliament voted in favour of the 90-billion-euro loan to meet Ukraine's financial needs for 2026 and 2027. (Reuters/Xinhua)



Edited by Cecil Wong