“We see no rational reason to seek a new sanctions package, especially when it comes to energy,” the minister was quoted as saying on television.

According to Szijjarto, Hungary will not refuse to participate in the discussions, but will not consent to anything contrary to its national interests.

He added that the European economy is moving towards a recession, and the adoption of additional punitive measures goes against the interests of the region and its peoples.

The State Secretary of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Tamas Menzer, had stated previously that the provisions against Russia have caused more suffering to Europe than to Russia itself, and called on the European Union to reconsider its policy.

Following the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, the West intensified sanctions pressure on Moscow, and Russian assets worth hundreds of billions of dollars were frozen.

The European Union has already adopted seven packages of restrictive measures against the Russian Federation, including an embargo on coal and oil.

However, all this has affected, first of all, the European countries themselves, which were already facing record inflation, and now are dealing with an energy crisis.

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