The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not agree with the criticism of sanctions against Russia by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

This was stated by Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Mykolenko.

He recalled that the sanctions were imposed in response to the full-scale war against Ukraine launched by Russia, which has already taken the lives of tens of thousands of Ukrainians, left hundreds of thousands of critical infrastructure in ruins and forced millions of people to leave their homes.

"Sanctions help to hold the aggressor state accountable for its crimes and to weaken its ability to continue waging war. It is not sanctions that are killing the European economy, but Russia's hybrid warfare," Nikolenko said.

According to him, the Hungarian prime minister should not call for the lifting of sanctions against Russia at a time when the Russian army is killing Ukrainian children in cold blood in Vinnitsa, Kharkov, Mykolayiv and other cities, but instead for increasing effective steps to curb Russian aggressive policies.

"It is important to face the truth: Russia is solely responsible for starting and continuing the war. And only by forcing it to peace through common efforts and unity can we guarantee that both Ukraine and Hungary, and Europe as a whole, will return to normal life," the commentary says.

"In this context, we urge partners to adopt the seventh package of EU sanctions against Russia as soon as possible, eliminate loopholes to circumvent the sanctions regime, as well as further increase the supply of heavy weapons for the Ukrainian army," the Foreign Ministry spokesman said.