Hungary says EU should talk to Trump before Russia sanctions renewal decision

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Hungary has not yet decided whether to support the rollover of European Union sanctions on Russia due at the end of this month and believes the EU should decide on the matter only after consulting with the incoming Trump administration, Hungary's EU minister said on Thursday.

"I think it is only natural that before we decide on the rollover for another six months, we ask the incoming U.S. administration how they see the future of the sanctions regime," minister Janos Boka told reporters in Brussels.

"There is no decision on the Hungarian position yet," Boka added. “We want to reserve our decision until we know how the U.S. administration sees the future of the sanctions regime."

The EU has approved 15 packages of sanctions on Russia since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine and is working on a 16th set of measures.

The sanctions up for renewal relate to various economic sectors and the freezing of Russian central bank assets, Boka said.

The EU renews the existing sanctions every six months and requires unanimity among its 27 member countries to do so.

Hungary has maintained closer economic and political relations with Moscow than other EU countries.

(Reporting by Andrew Gray, Editing by Charlotte Van Campenhout)