EU leaders are planning to impose a new set of sanctions against Russia. (Source: RIA Novosti)

The EU has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, targeting the energy sector, banks, the world's largest diamond miner and other businesses.

Prime Minister Orban has broken with most European leaders and has spoken out against such sanctions on the grounds that they hurt the European economy more than Russia.

In the statement, the Hungarian leader stressed that the EU sanctions regime "needs to be reconsidered, because with such a punitive policy, energy prices will not decrease".

Mr Orban also affirmed: "It will be very painful for those who defend the sanctions. Not for us, because we will consider this a victory, but the other side must change, because otherwise the sanctions will destroy the European economy."

Hungary currently holds the rotating EU presidency for half a year and has softened its retaliatory measures against Russia in that role. However, EU leaders are planning a new round of sanctions against Moscow.

On November 21, the European Parliament passed a resolution asking the EU to take action against Russia's so-called "shadow fleet", which are oil export ships from the country that are believed to be violating sanctions.

The EU legislature also wants the bloc to ban imports of Russian fossil fuels.

Prime Minister Orban opposes such a ban and has used EU exemptions in previous rounds of sanctions to allow landlocked Hungary to continue importing Russian oil and gas, which he says are essential to sustaining Hungary's economy.

Last week, the head of the Hungarian government predicted that US President-elect Donald Trump would withdraw Washington's support for Kiev in its fight against Moscow.

The leader argued that a Trump presidency would help revive Hungary's stagnant economy, which is currently in a technical recession.