Sijarto did not allow sanctions to be imposed on Patriarch Kirill and Nebeznia — World

According to him, the UN is “the last place for political consultations”, and the introduction of sanctions against the Russian ambassador would undermine another opportunity for negotiations.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Péter Szijarto, confirmed that he blocked the EU's attempt to include Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzyu, on the sanctions list.

As Magyar Hang reports, the minister stated this at a press conference following the meeting of the heads of foreign affairs of the EU countries, which took place on December 16.

Szijjarto explained that Hungary supported the 15th package of sanctions against Russia only after it managed to exclude items that could affect its oil refining sector.

“It was important to us, and because we managed to remove the crazy ideas from this sanctions package, we didn't veto it,” Sijarto said.