Hungary's Orbán says sanctions on Russia will 'destroy' EU economy

The European Union must abandon its policy of sanctioning Russia for its war in Ukraine or risk causing an economic collapse, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told state radio on Friday.

The EU has imposed several rounds of sanctions against Moscow since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, targeting the energy sector, banks, the world's biggest diamond mining company and other businesses.

Orbán, widely seen as having the warmest relations with the Kremlin in the EU, has broken with the majority of European leaders and vocally opposed such sanctions, arguing they did more to damage European economies than they did Russia's.

The Hungarian leader on Friday said the EU's sanction regime “should be reviewed, because with such a policy of sanctions, energy prices will not come down”.

“It will be painful for those who argued for sanctions. Not for us, because we will see this as a victory, but the other camp has to change because otherwise it will destroy the European economy,” he said.

Hungary currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU, and has de-emphasised retaliatory measures against Russia in that role. EU leaders, however, are making plans to impose a new round of penalties against Moscow.

On Thursday, the European Parliament adopted a resolution demanding the EU step up against Russia's so-called “shadow fleet,” ships that export Russian oil in violation of sanctions. The legislature also wants the bloc to ban the import of Russian fossil fuels.

Orbán opposes such a ban, and has leveraged exceptions from the EU during previous rounds of sanctions that allowed landlocked Hungary to continue importing Russian oil and gas, which he argues are essential to sustaining Hungary's economy.

The Hungarian leader last week predicted that President-elect Donald Trump would pull US support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. A Trump presidency, Orbán has argued, will revive Hungary's sputtering economy, now in a technical recession.

“The pro-peace presidential candidate won, and now we are waiting for peace,” Orbán said Friday.