Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban threatened on Friday to block the next rollover of EU sanctions against Russia unless Brussels helps achieve a restart of Russian gas transit via Ukraine, which was halted on Jan.

Hungary, one of Russia’s main friends in the EU, had left its EU counterparts fuming over a refusal so far to approve the move.

Hungary wants the European Union to persuade Ukraine to resume gas transit from Russia to Europe, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday, signalling a tough debate as the EU seeks to extend its sanctions against Russia over the coming week.

The European Union will moved forward with a renewal on Russian sanctions after a deal was struck with Hungary, according to multiple reports.

Sikorski believes that Budapest changed its mind after Trump called Russian dictator Vladimir Putin as an aggressor and threatened Moscow with sanctions if it did not engage in peace talks. It was the new US president's first clear position on Russia's war against Ukraine.

The European Union on Monday renewed its wide-ranging sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine after Hungary stopped holding up the move in return for a declaration on energy security. The bloc’s foreign policy chief,