Ukraine war: EU imposes new sanctions on Russia

The agreement was made possible by concessions. Slovakia received assurances that it would not face serious economic and financial consequences if, after the new sanctions package, a plan for a complete ban on imports of Russian gas was implemented. Fico cannot block this plan because, unlike the sanctions package, it can be passed by majority vote against Slovakia's will.

Oil price cap is adjusted dynamically

In addition, Malta, Greece , and Cyprus recently expressed concerns about measures designed to reduce Russian revenues from crude oil exports to third countries. These countries feared unfairly significant disadvantages for domestic shipping companies if the so-called oil price cap were reduced too drastically. As a compromise, it was now agreed to regularly adjust the price cap so that, in the long term, it remains no more than 15 percent below the average market price. In a first step, it is to be reduced from the current 60 to 47.60 US dollars per barrel (159-liter barrel).