EU foreign ministers adopted a 16th package of sanctions against Russia on, which targets a cryptocurrency exchange for the first time, a Council statement said.

In January, Budapest, which has maintained close ties with Moscow through the war, held up the renewal of the economic sanctions that include the immobilisation of Moscow's central bank assets. An agreement was reached after the European Commission agreed to include Hungary in talks about resuming gas transit to the EU through Ukraine.

The EU’s most extensive sanctions package, alongside new UK measures, aims to cripple Russia’s war efforts, tighten energy restrictions, and combat sanctions evasion as the war in Ukraine enters its fourth year.