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Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has ruled out the prospect of a Russian gas ban in the European Union’s next package of sanctions, calling it “impossible”.
Landlocked Hungary is overwhelmingly dependent on Russian hydrocarbons. Szijjarto’s comments come as Russian President Vladimir Putin says he believes the West will not be able to wean itself off Russian oil and gas for several years, CNBC reported.
The EU had sought to impose a total ban on Russian crude to cripple Putin’s war machine over the Kremlin’s onslaught in Ukraine. The bloc eventually agreed late last month to a partial oil embargo in its long-delayed sixth package of sanctions against Russia.
The compromise will see a ban on Russian oil brought into the bloc by sea, with an exemption carved out for imports by pipeline following opposition from Hungary.
“When we impose sanctions, then we have to make sure that those sanctions are hurting more those against whom we impose the sanctions than ourselves,” Szijjarto said.
“We have to have a very clear position on the war, which we do have; we condemn Russia for this military aggression. We stand with Ukraine. But we have to take into consideration reality as well,” he added.
