Bloomberg reported on Hungary's rejection of EU sanctions against Russian Federation before Trump's arrival

Hungary has refused the European Union (EU) to extend sanctions against Russia before US President-elect Donald Trump officially takes office. This was reported by Bloomberg news agency on December 19.

"Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the leaders of the European Union that he wants to wait for the inauguration of his ally Donald Trump before deciding on the extension of sanctions against Russia," the agency said in its material.

It is specified that for the extension of sanctions against Russia requires a unanimous decision of 27 members. To vote for the continuation of sanctions is necessary until the end of January 2025.

Courts and trials: what is known about the 15th package of sanctions against Russia

The EU Council adopted a new list of anti-Russian restrictions on December 16

Earlier, December 16, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto said that Hungary supported the 15th package of EU sanctions against Russia, because it made an exception for the Hungarian energy company MOL to export oil products from Russian raw materials.

On Dec. 4, Szijjártó said Hungary had asked the U.S. to make an exception to sanctions against Gazprombank for payments for gas from Russia. He said he discussed the topic with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on the margins of a meeting of NATO diplomatic chiefs in Brussels. The diplomat noted that such an exception cannot be called unusual because several Russian banks have it to pay for uranium supplies to the United States.

Meanwhile, Orban said on November 15 that Europe's economic path is comparable to suicide. Thus, the result of the conflict in Ukraine, according to the politician, are the problems with the Hungarian economy. In his opinion, the imposition of sanctions against Russia, imposed by Brussels, was wrong. Orban noted that the imposed restrictions led to an increase in energy prices, which caused inflation in the country. At the same time, European countries do not have enough money to finance the conflict.

Before that, on November 7, the Hungarian Prime Minister also said that after the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential election in the EU there were doubts about the continuation of financing Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on November 7 that the volume of Western anti-Russian sanctions is unparalleled in history, but they have not dealt Russia "a crushing blow from which it will not be able to recover." The head of state emphasized that Russia is actually needed by the world and the restrictions will not affect this fact.

Western countries have tightened sanctions pressure on Russia in connection with the special operation to protect Donbass. The decision to launch it was announced on February 24, 2022 after the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.