ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
The European Union has renewed economic sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine. The EU had to overcome opposition from Hungary, whose prime minister, Viktor Orban, has warm relations with both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. From Brussels, Teri Schultz reports.
TERI SCHULTZ, BYLINE: The renewal of sanctions by EU foreign ministers keeps in place 15 sets of measures targeting Russia's economy in key sectors including oil, coal, banking and transport and also keeps frozen more than 200 billion euros of Russian central bank assets. The interest from those immobilized accounts is now being given to Ukraine. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
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KAJA KALLAS: This will continue to deprive Putin of revenues to fund his war.
SCHULTZ: It nearly didn't happen. With the January 31 renewal deadline looming, Hungary's Viktor Orban exasperated his European counterparts by insisting he'd wait to see what newly inaugurated Donald Trump said about Ukraine and Russia before deciding whether to agree to the extension. Orban has regularly delayed aid and weapons packages for Kyiv and resisted punishing the Kremlin.
Trump's surprise suggestion that Moscow could face more punitive measures from Washington if it doesn't end the war may have swayed Orban more than European pressure did, according to Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski.
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RADEK SIKORSKI: Donald Trump also has to be credited here because in his statement on Truth Social, he identified Vladimir Putin as the aggressor and threatened him with sanctions. So I hope the Hungarian leadership has seen the wisdom of sanctions.
SCHULTZ: The Hungarian leadership also got a couple of sentences on EU solidarity over energy security, inserted in a statement about the sanctions rollover. This was demanded by Orban after Ukraine cut off Russian gas flows to Hungary. But Michael Bociurkiw, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council think tank, who's based in Ukraine, says while Trump may have helped push Orban to restrain Russia this time, the new U.S. administration's holdup of foreign aid is hurting Kyiv.
MICHAEL BOCIURKIW: It's already having an immediate impact on aid to Ukraine, on travel there, on capacity building, that sort of thing. The EU also has to very urgently find ways to step up its assistance to Ukraine.
SCHULTZ: And in six months, when these sanctions face renewal again, the EU will be right back in the same place - having to hope and possibly haggle for Viktor Orban's approval.
For NPR News, I'm Teri Schultz in Brussels.
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