Western sanctions turned Ukraine conflict into global war: Hungarian PM

The Western countries' sanctions against Russia have turned the "local" conflict between Russia and Ukraine into a "global economic war," Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in Budapest.

An increasing number of countries across the world is becoming "victim" of the conflict in Ukraine, Orban added on Monday at the opening of Parliament's autumn session.

He said that the US and the European Union (EU) were supplying Ukraine with weapons and money, but Russia's reserves of material and men were "endless".

According to Orban, the "EU's bureaucrats" promised that the sanctions would hurt Russia and bring an end to the conflict, but none of that happened, Xinhua news agency reported.

"European people have become poorer (because of the sanctions), while Russia has not fallen to its knees," he added.

"This weapon has backfired: with the sanctions, Europe has shot itself in the foot."

The Prime Minister also said that families across Europe were paying the price of the sanctions in their energy bills.

He said that through inflation and rising prices, European countries are now paying a "sanctions surcharge".

Orban added that he was convinced that if the sanctions ended, prices would go down very quickly.

"Let's be blunt, if we remove the sanctions, prices would immediately drop by half, and inflation would also at least be halved."

He said he firmly believed that without the sanctions, the European economy would also "gain strength" and avoid the "threatening recession".

"We demand an immediate ceasefire and peace talks rather than prolonging and deepening" the conflict, he said, noting that Hungary's priorities were to preserve its security and its economic and national sovereignty.

--IANS

int/khz/