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.

“Now the issue of extending sanctions is on the agenda, I have put on the handbrake and asked European leaders to understand that this cannot continue,” said Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, speaking to state broadcaster Kossuth Radio. “Hungary cannot be made to pay the price of sanctions in such proportions.”

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.

Ukrainian diplomacy on Wednesday, threatening Moscow with sanctions and calling on President Vladimir Putin to make a deal for the sake of his economy.

President Donald Trump is threatening to impose stiff taxes, tariffs and sanctions on Russia if an agreement isn’t reached to end the war in Ukraine.

In a lengthy post on his social media platform Truth Social, US President Donald Trump threatened to impose " high levels of taxes, tariffs, and sanctions" on Russia if President Vladimir Putin doesn't make a deal to end his war in Ukraine.

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,