Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned that the European Union has fallen into its own trap when it imposed sanctions on Russia. He cited the spiking costs of energy and the lack of raw materials that European industry and households are now facing.

The sanctions have not worked as Brussels expected when they imposed them. We came up with a plan to dig a hole for the Russians, but we are the ones who fell into it. Now we have to decide what is to be done, Orban said.

He also encouraged calls for peace in Ukraine, in contrast to most other European leaders and the US who insist that Ukraine must be helped to resist and eventually defeat Russia.