Hungarian FM: EU Sanctions Failed to Stop Ukraine Crisis

Hungarian Foreign Minister (FM) Péter Szijjártó said on Monday that the solutions that Europe is trying to find in order to resolve the Ukrainian crisis are useless, noting that the EU sanctions have failed to stop the conflict.

In press remarks, Szijjarto added that the ceasefire is the only solution that can put an end to the conflict, stressing that the European Union (EU) imposed ten packages of sanctions against Russia, and all of them did not affect it, but rather harmed European countries.

Earlier, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed his opposition to Germany's decision to send heavy weapons, particularly tanks, to Ukraine.

Orban said in an interview today, Saturday, that such measures bring the Germans closer to direct participation in the conflict.

“It started with the Germans saying they were willing to send helmets because they wouldn’t send lethal tools into the war since that would mean participation in it. This is where we started,” Orban said. “Now, we’re at battle tanks, and they’re already talking about planes.”

"The Germans are drifting towards war step by step," the Hungarian prime minister concluded.

Orban noted that since the beginning of the conflict in neighboring Ukraine, Hungary has warned that it will not supply weapons to the Ukrainian army.

Germany had announced its intention to provide Ukraine with 14 tanks of the "Leopard 2" model and to allow other countries to provide Kyiv with tanks of the same type, from their own arsenals.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden indicated that his administration would provide Ukraine with 31 American-made M1 Abrams tanks.