Russia sanctions will ‘destroy’ EU economy: Orban [Video]

BUDAPEST, Hungary –

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.

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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 …