MOSCOW, OCTOBER 16 (RIA Novosti) – The sanctions imposed against Russia by the European Union are not helping in resolving the situation in Ukraine and are hurting the economies of EU member-states, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Thursday.
"These sanctions have not given us the result we hoped for in Ukraine – the conflict is clearly not de escalating. Meanwhile, Europe's economy is suffering and central Europe has suffered the most," Szijjarto told the Financial Times.
According to the foreign minister, Hungary is losing over $200,000 every day as a result of sanctions imposed against Russia, which is Hungary's third largest trade partner.
"Unfortunately we have lost 12 per cent of our exports to Russia and CIS so far this year," Szijjarto noted.
Western countries have imposed several rounds of economic sanctions against Russia, accusing it of supporting independence fighters in southeastern Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied the claim.
In August, Russia responded to the sanctions with a ban on food imports from the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia and Norway.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has stressed that Western sanctions undermine economic stability in the world and hurt not only the target country but also those using the measure.
