In January, Budapest, which has maintained close ties with Moscow through the war, held up the renewal of the economic sanctions that include the immobilisation of Moscow's central bank assets. An agreement was reached after the European Commission agreed to include Hungary in talks about resuming gas transit to the EU through Ukraine.

Hungary wants the European Union to remove eight individuals from its sanctions list against Russia. In that case, it may support the extension of restrictions, Reuters informs. According to the media outlet,

Hungary has threatened to block the latest package of sanctions against Russia unless it receives guarantees on the resumption of gas supplies through Ukraine.

Hungary seeks to remove eight individuals from the EU's Russia sanctions list and demands new guarantees on Ukraine gas transit discussions before consenting to sanctions renewal. Despite the EU's need for unanimous agreement to extend sanctions,

Reuters reported that Budapest wants to remove eight individuals from the European Union’s sanctions list against Russia and secure new guarantees regarding negotiations on gas transit through Ukraine before agreeing to extend the restrictions.