Hungary prolonged its blockage of the renewal of sanctions against Russia as Prime Minister Viktor Orban called on the European Union to pressure Ukraine to re-establish the transit of Russian gas to Europe.

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.

Orban, 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 Euro

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said he wants the European Union to intervene over a gas dispute between his country and Ukraine – a potential sign of friction in the bloc’s upcoming discussions over renewing sanctions against Russia.

The fate of the European Union’s sanctions against Russia were thrown into limbo after a top Hungarian official called for a “debate” and signaled their renewal by the end of the month shouldn’t be automatic.

It’s hard to find a more hypocritical political class in the wide world than that of the Brussels bureaucrats. They demand that we sever ourselves from Russian gas, meanwhile, more Russian LNG is coming to Western Europe than ever before,