Hungary urges EU to pause Russia sanctions as oil prices surge

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban urged the European Union to suspend sanctions on Russian oil and gas Monday to counter prices sent soaring by the war in the Middle East.

Orban also imposed fuel price caps from midnight tonight – and Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was "ready to work with Europeans" as long as they were "free from political pressures"

Oil prices have rocketed above $100 a barrel for the first time since the Russian-Ukraine conflict, as Iran carries out retaliatory strikes against crude-producing Gulf nations.

Orban has repeatedly criticized sanctions against Russia, leveraging his veto power to get Hungary exempt from them and reduce European help for Ukraine.

"We must review and suspend all sanctions imposed on Russian energy throughout Europe. I have initiated this today in a letter to (European) Commission President Ursula von der Leyen," Orban said in a video published on Facebook.

He claimed Hungary's escalating row with neighbouring Ukraine over stalled Russian oil supplies has also turned into a "serious threat" to the EU as well.

Hungary and neighboring Slovakia accuse Ukraine of deliberately delaying reopening the Druzhba pipeline pumping Russian oil to the two landlocked EU member states, which Kyiv says was damaged by Russian strikes in January.

Orban has been holding up a $106 billion EU loan to Ukraine and a new round of sanctions against Moscow over what he calls the "Ukrainian oil blockade".

He has recently ramped up political attacks on Ukraine ahead of a closely fought parliamentary election on April 12.

Relations hit a new low over the weekend after Hungary arrested seven Ukrainian state bank employees and seized the $80 million of cash and nine gold bars they were transporting from Austria.

Orban announced Monday that the fuel price caps will come into force at midnight local time to counter soaring oil costs.

"We are introducing a protected price for both gasoline and diesel, above which retail prices cannot go," Orban said, also citing an escalating row with Ukraine over stalled Russian oil supplies as another reason for the measure.

Separately, Putin said Russia would supply oil and gas to European buyers, provided such co-operation was "long-term" and did not put political pressure on Moscow.

"If European companies and European buyers suddenly decide to reorient themselves and provide us with long-term, sustainable cooperation, free from political pressures, free from political pressures, then go ahead. We've never refused," Putin said in a televised meeting.

"We're ready to work with Europeans, but we need some signals from them that they're ready and willing to work with us and will ensure this sustainability and stability," he added.