BUDAPEST, December 21./TASS/. The European Union’s sanctions on Russia will have to be lifted once the conflict in Ukraine is resolved, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Obran said at his year-end press conference in Budapest.

He reaffirmed the position of his government, which from the very beginning has opposed attempts to use sanctions on Moscow as a tool to resolve the crisis. If the conflict in Ukraine is settled, the sanctions, which are harmful to Europe’s economy, "will also come to an end."

"Hungary believes that as many sanctions as possible sanctions should be lifted as soon as possible," Orban noted.

He added, however, that only a couple of EU countries shared Hungary’s position, while others, including the union’s leading nations, were set to keep sanctions on Russia in place.