MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The future of Europe depends on developing relations with Russia, therefore the possibility of economically isolating the country should be rejected, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday.
Orban told Russian newspaper Kommersant that he did not want to live in a Europe heading toward a new Cold War with Russia, making Europeans Russia's enemy.
The prime minister expressed his support for Russia's initiative on economic cooperation and free trade between the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union.
The interview comes after Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin had talks on economic cooperation in Budapest on Tuesday. Following the meeting, the Hungarian prime minister said Russia and the European Union must urgently re-establish good relations.
Relations between the European Union and Russia severely deteriorated in 2014 amid Western accusations of Russian involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.
The European Union, as well as the United States and some other nations imposed several rounds of anti-Russia sanctions. Moscow, denying all the accusations, has responded with a year-long food ban on the countries that introduced the sanctions.
