Hungary Seeks to Strengthen Ties With Russia in Areas Unaffected by Sanctions - Orban

BUDAPEST (Sputnik) - Hungary does not want to give up economic cooperation with Russia, but would prefer to deepen it in areas not affected by sanctions, since economic life will continue after the end of the conflict in Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Monday.

"We also do not want to give up economic cooperation with Russia. We refuse to cooperate with it only where European sanctions prohibit it. Where they are not prohibited, our goal is rather for economic growth to increase, because there will also be life after the end of the war. There will be trade, there will be economics, and for us this will be an important relationship and an important market opportunity,” Orban said at the opening of the year at the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Budapest, since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict, has been consistently calling for a ceasefire and peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and opposed sanctions on Russian energy. In March 2022, Hungary's parliament banned the delivery of weapons to Ukraine from the country's soil.