17/01/2025 (Agence Europe) – On Friday 17 January, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, stated that there was “no reason” to abandon the sanctions against Russia, even though their renewal must be approved by the EU27 before 31 January. For the time being, Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán, is refusing to approve this renewal and is playing for time until Donald Trump takes office as President of the United States. “We absolutely need sanctions. It is our means of exerting pressure and it would be very strange to give it up”, declared the High Representative. For his part, the Hungarian Prime Minister expressed his desire “to establish a system of relations without sanctions with Russia”. “It’s time to throw the sanctions out of the window”, he said in an interview on state radio on Friday morning. (IS)