Hungary has announced that it will consult with the United States before making a decision on extending the European Union sanctions against Russia, as the deadline approaches at the end of the month, reports Bloomberg, citing Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.
"We will consult with our American partners before the EU foreign ministers' meeting on Monday to discuss sanctions," Szijjarto stated at a press conference in Budapest, adding that the position of the new U.S. administration "cannot be ignored."
He made this statement after Gergely Gulyas, the head of the Prime Minister's Office, indicated that Donald Trump's election in the U.S. has created a "new situation," meaning that the renewal of sanctions should not be "automatic."
EU ambassadors will meet in the coming days to discuss whether they can move forward with the extension. Several diplomats have stated that there is currently no backup plan for extending the sanctions if Orban continues to block them.