At the final stage of approval of the 18th sanctions package, the EU has problems with Malta

Malta has expressed reservations against the European Commission's proposal to introduce a new price ceiling mechanism for Russian oil exports, which provides for a 15% reduction from the market value calculated on the basis of the average for three months. This is reported by Politico with reference to a European diplomat.

Meanwhile, Reuters, citing sources, writes that EU officials are close to agreeing on the 18th package of sanctions against Russia, which will include a reduction in the price ceiling for Russian oil.

According to them, all elements of the package have been agreed upon, although one member state still has technical reservations about the new restriction.

A full agreement is expected to be reached on Monday, on the eve of a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels, where the 18th package of sanctions may be officially approved.

In the coming days, Slovakia intends to resolve the issue of the next package of sanctions against Russia with its European partners.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that he had discussed the issue with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, calling the talks "extremely difficult.".

"We want to resolve this issue by Tuesday, as tensions are rising on all sides," Fico told reporters in Bratislava, reiterating his opposition to the Russian gas cutoff.

• Hungary has also previously opposed changing the oil price ceiling, and Estonia has said that it will block the 18th package of sanctions if the threshold is not lowered below $45.
• Ukraine has been asking from the beginning and is still asking to set the price threshold for Russian oil at $30 per barrel.