MOSCOW, December 18. /TASS/. /TASS/. Hungary has lost $8.5 billion since the European Union imposed economic sanctions on Russia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told RTVI TV channel on Wednesday.

"Since [the EU] imposed sanctions, a total of $8.5 billion were lost," Szijjarto said. "Russia was our second-largest trade partner before the sanctions. Of course, we lost many export opportunities," he added.

He noted that Hungary has never violated the European unanimity on sanctions and will not do so in the future. "Even though we always promote honest dialogue, sanctions significantly complicate our work from the political and economic point of view," he said.