Kallas Rejects Lifting EU Sanctions on Russia “`

Hungary’s refusal to commit to renewing Ukraine-related sanctions poses a challenge.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas insists on maintaining sanctions against Russia, citing their importance as leverage, even as Hungary might veto their renewal.

The EU has imposed 15 rounds of sanctions on Moscow since the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022. Their continuation beyond January 31st requires unanimous agreement from all member states.

“Maintaining the sanctions is crucial; they provide leverage, and relinquishing them would be unwise,” Kallas stated on Friday.

“The situation remains unchanged. Putin’s objectives haven’t altered, nor has the ground reality. Therefore, there’s no justification for lifting the sanctions,” she added.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has declined to commit to extending sanctions until discussing them with US President-elect Donald Trump, whose inauguration is Monday.

In his weekly Kossuth Radio interview, Orban argued the EU needs to adjust to “a new era” with Trump’s return to the White House.

“It’s time to abandon sanctions and establish sanction-free relations with Russia,” he declared. “That’s a long-term goal, but we must pursue it.”

However, Orban noted that “signals from Brussels are discouraging.”

Trump initially pledged to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict immediately upon taking office; however, recent comments from his team suggest a longer timeframe.

“Any negotiations would leave us significantly weaker” if sanctions are lifted, Kallas argued. “I also believe that abandoning sanctions now isn’t in the US’s interest.”

The Biden administration attempted to make sanctions more resilient to reversal by shifting some targeted individuals and entities from executive branch blacklists to those enacted by Congress, thus making them harder to remove.

Kallas, Estonia’s former prime minister, adopted a firm stance against Russia and in support of Ukraine, mirroring the Baltic states and Poland. Conversely, Orban has advocated for peace talks, refusing to supply weapons or ammunition to Kyiv, or allow military supplies through Hungary.

EU leaders fear that if Hungary allows the sanctions to lapse, Russia could regain access to approximately €200 billion ($205 billion) in frozen central bank assets held by Euroclear in Belgium.

The EU reportedly considers having the Belgian king invoke a 1944 decree to prevent any asset transfers, potentially exposing Belgium to legal risks rather than the EU as a whole.