Hungarian chief diplomat calls Western sanctions 'complete failure'

BUDAPEST — Sanctions on Russia are causing damage to Europe and it is a "complete failure", Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto said on Sunday.

As a result of the European Union's sanctions imposed so far due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, European inflation is skyrocketing, utility costs, natural gas prices and food prices have risen, and the continent's economy has entered into a recession, Szijjarto told public radio channel MR1.

"This was a complete failure, as it is now clear that these sanctions have hurt Europe much more than Russia itself and are causing enormous damage to the EU's economy," he said.

Szijjarto labeled a potential eighth sanction package as a "wrong direction", but noted that there are no final decisions on the matter yet — not even a formal proposal has been prepared so far.

"We will not give our consent to any decision that would harm the Hungarian national interest. The security of our energy supply remains a red line. For us, any sanctions that would endanger our energy supply are unacceptable," he said.

Szijjarto also voiced his view about the United States gaining from the EU's sanctions policy. "It is beyond dispute that the American economy is winning with these sanctions, while the EU's economy is headed for recession," he said.

"I consider dialogue and negotiation to be a value, it seems that not everyone agrees on that. If we close the communication channels, the diplomatic channels, we will permanently give up and lose the hope that this conflict will ever end."

Trading accusations

Ukraine and Russia traded accusations on Sunday of attacks on civilians in southern Ukraine.

Ukraine's military said early on Sunday that Russian forces had launched dozens of missile attacks and airstrikes on military and civilian targets in the past 24 hours.

Russia denies deliberately attacking civilians. Its RIA news agency reported that Ukrainian forces bombed a hotel in the city of Kherson, killing two people.

Russia's defense ministry said Ukrainian forces continued attacks around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, including launching eight "kamikaze drones" at the facility.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that Ukraine had received sophisticated air defense systems from the US.

It was the first acknowledgment that Ukraine had received the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, which was long sought by Kyiv. Its shipment was approved by Washington late last month.

Meanwhile, Japan has decided to ban exports of related chemical weapon goods to Russia in an additional sanction against Moscow, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday.

Xinhua - Agencies