West Must Stop Adding Sanctions on Russia: Hungary at EU Summit 

A top adviser to Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, claimed during a side event to a summit of EU leaders that the more sanctions the EU enacted, the more they damaged the union while Russia thrived. It demanded the West stop imposing further sanctions against Russia at the EU summit.

Hungary said engaging in negotiations is preferable to imposing more restrictions on Russia. 

Europe to Lose Conflict 

A senior assistant to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday that the European Union should avoid imposing new sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and instead advocate for a ceasefire and the beginning of discussions. 

Speaking outside of an EU summit session where Ukraine was given candidate status to join, the aide claimed that the more sanctions the EU summit enacted, the more they damaged the organisation while Russia thrived. 

“Europe will ultimately lose this conflict due to its economic problems.  

The sanctioning procedure should be stopped, is what we would advise, “According to Balazs Orban, a Reuter’s interviewee who is not connected to the prime minister. 

One of the EU summit nations that supports Russia the most is Hungary, which relies on Russian oil and gas. A Hungarian nuclear reactor is also being built by Russia.  

Budapest had delayed the current round of penalties against Moscow to get an exception for itself, which included a restriction on Russian oil imports. 

“The worse circumstances we now find ourselves in, the more punishments we now bear. The Russians, too? They too suffer injury, but they survive.  

And to make matters worse, they continue in Ukraine, “said Balazs Orban. 

 Six Sanctions 

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the 27-member European Union has approved six sets of sanctions, including asset freezes and visa bans on Russian oligarchs and officials, export restrictions, the freezing of assets of the central bank, disconnecting banks from the SWIFT messaging system, and a ban on imports of Russian coal and oil. 

However, other government officials contend that certain oligarchs can live without some of their boats or Western homes, have likely already shifted liquid assets beyond the EU summit and that China and others may be able to get over export limits. 

The billions of dollars Russia receives each day for its oil and gas that is still flowing to Europe, according to some, lessens the pain of the freeze on the reserves of the Russian central bank. 

 Some authorities claim that the crude can be sold and carried by tankers to China or India once the EU summit stops purchasing Russian oil the following year. 

Others contend that while the sanctions have some effect, it will take some time for their total outcomes on the Russian economy. 

Orban, though, said that the EU should modify its strategy. 

“While we have achieved some success with the approach over the previous four months, we now see that if we continue down a similar path, Europe will suffer.  Therefore, we need to consider something. Peace, talks, and a ceasefire. Diplomacy. Our remedy is that, “stated Orban.