A 'step towards war': Hungary decries EU sanctions on Russia

Hungary has slammed the European Union's sanctions against Russia over Moscow's ongoing war in Ukraine, as a counterproductive intervention in the conflict that could quickly turn the bloc into an actual "belligerent."

"It's a step towards war, if someone intervenes economically in a military conflict," Prime Minister Viktor Orban said during a radio interview on Friday.

"Taking a stand" could quickly amount to "becoming an actual belligerent," he added.

Russia started the military campaign in February. It says it launched the operation in order to defend the pro-Russian population in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk against persecution by Kiev.

Back in 2014, the two republics broke away from Ukraine, refusing to recognize a Western-backed Ukrainian government there that had overthrown a democratically-elected Russia-friendly administration.

Ever since the beginning of the war, Western countries, led by the United States, have been imposing Russia with a slew of economic sanctions and pumping Ukraine full of advanced weapons, steps that Russia says would only prolong the hostilities.

SS