EU fails to agree new Russia sanctions as Hungary blocks: Kallas

European Union (EU) foreign ministers failed on Monday to reach an agreement on the 20th package of sanctions against Russia, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said, after Hungary refused to back the measures ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"This is a setback and a message we did not want to send today, but the work continues," Kallas told a news conference after talks in Brussels, adding that she also decided to cap the size of the Russian Mission in the EU at 40 people.

Hungary and Slovakia on Monday took what they described as "reciprocal" countermeasures against Ukraine following disruptions to oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said on Monday that Budapest has made clear in the meeting that it will not support or approve the planned sanctions package, and will also block an EU proposal to provide Ukraine with a 90-billion-euro (106-billion-U.S. dollar) loan.

Szijjarto said Hungary will not support any EU decision that benefits Ukraine as long as Kyiv continues to halt oil deliveries to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline.

Addressing the opening of the parliament's spring session on Monday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused Ukraine of attempting to exert pressure on Hungary by halting oil transit. He said that Budapest will not yield and remains committed to defending its national interests.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on Monday asked the state-run Slovak Electricity Transmission System to cut emergency electricity supplies to Ukraine, according to the News Agency of the Slovak Republic.

Fico said the measure would be lifted immediately if oil transit to Slovakia resumes. "Otherwise, we will take further reciprocal measures," he added.

The Druzhba pipeline, which transports Russian oil to Central Europe via Ukraine, has faced repeated disruptions since last year amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Ukraine has blamed Russian drone attacks for damage to the pipeline.

However, Hungarian officials have noted that although there are currently "no practical or technical obstacles," Ukraine has decided not to restart crude deliveries.

The U.S. dollar weakened in late trading on Monday.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, dropped 0.09 percent to 97.705 at 15:00 (2000 GMT).

In late New York trading, the euro rose to 1.1792 dollars from 1.1780 dollars in the previous session, and the British pound lost to 1.3490 dollars from 1.3491 dollars in the previous session.

The U.S. dollar bought 154.62 Japanese yen, lower than 155.02 Japanese yen of the previous session. The U.S. dollar was down to 0.7744 Swiss francs from 0.7754 Swiss francs, and it was up to 1.3696 Canadian dollars from 1.3686 Canadian dollars. The U.S. dollar advanced to 9.0647 Swedish kronor from 9.0540 Swedish kronor.