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Kremlin watching situation with EC’s proposal to freeze payments from EU budget to Hungary

Asked to clarify whether the Kremlin is ready to show understanding if Hungary abandons its neutral position on sanctions against Russia, Dmitry Peskov said: "Everything depends on how those changes turn up de facto"

MOSCOW, September 19. /TASS/. The Kremlin is closely monitoring the situation with the European Commission’s proposal to freeze payments from the budget of the European Union to Hungary, Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

"Hungary remains the member of the European Union, with differences arising sometimes, of course. Regarding this decision, it is necessary to monitor how the situation unfolds, because there have also been reports that Budapest is developing a certain settlement plan. Hungary sticks to a sovereign position on many issues, which we welcome. We continue closely monitoring the situation," Peskov said.

Asked to clarify whether the Kremlin is ready to show understanding if Hungary abandons its neutral position on sanctions against Russia, he said: "Everything depends on how those changes turn up de facto." "So far we can hardly project it," the spokesman added.

Earlier, the European Commission officially suggested for the first time in the European Union’s history that payments from the EU’s budget to a country belonging to the integration be frozen. Hungary became the first target, with frozen payments potentially reaching 7.5 bln euro.

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