The differences between Russia and NATO over the Ukraine crisis are significant, but “they can be bridged,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Tuesday after a nearly five-hour conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
Orban also argued that Western sanctions against Russia were counterproductive, according to Reuters.
“Today I am convinced that the existing differences can be bridged and that it is possible to sign an agreement that will guarantee peace and security in Russia, while it will be accepted by the NATO member states,” said the Hungarian Prime Minister during the joint press conference he gave with Vladimir Putin.
He expressed the hope that the talks that will take place in the coming days and weeks will lead to an agreement.
The United States and the European Union have warned Russia that it will impose sanctions if it invades Ukraine, a move Moscow has denied despite gathering more than 100,000 troops near the border with its neighbor.
However, Orban, whose country is a member of the EU and NATO, said Russia had responded well to previous sanctions and had in fact done more damage to Hungary by depriving it of some of its markets.
“Therefore, I think they are an ineffective tool, a tool that is doomed to fail in international politics,” he added.
This is not the first time that Orban, who has cultivated close ties with Putin and has often clashed with his EU counterparts, has criticized sanctions against Russia.
“I consider this visit as a peacekeeping mission,” he told a news conference, adding: “They told President Putin that the EU is united and there is not a single EU leader who would like a conflict with Russia. This is especially true for us Central Europeans. ”
At the same time, the Hungarian Prime Minister stated that he asked Russia to increase the supply of natural gas by 1 billion cubic meters per year, under the long-term supply agreement the two countries signed last year, and stressed that an agreement on this request is close.
Source: Capital
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