TOKYO, May 21. /TASS/. The strategy developed by Europe and the US regarding the Ukrainian conflict has failed completely, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said, speaking at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, one of Japan's leading think tanks.
"The strategy which has been put together by Europe and the United States as an answer, as a reaction to the war, has failed entirely," the top diplomat said, noting that this is the opinion of the global majority countries.
"When we discussed the first [sanctions] package back more than two years ago, I raised this question [about the goals of the sanctions]. And then the answer was the following: 'Peter, the goals of the sanctions are the following: to push Russia on its knees, economically speaking, and then to come closer to the conclusion of this war,'" Szijjarto recalled. "Is Russia on its knees economically? Well, far [from it]. Are we closer to the conclusion of the war? Definitely not," he pointed out, adding that the sanctions have had a major impact on the European economy, and that Western European countries, which are "super proud that they got rid of Russian energy resources," are actually buying them indirectly. As an example, the Hungarian foreign minister cited oil supplies from India.
"Now we are discussing the fourteenth [sanctions] package. Do you understand? You’ve failed thirteen times with the same thing, try the fourteenth. That’s a bit against Hungarian logic," Szijjarto said, joking that this logic might be a bit controversial, given that a Hungarian invented the Rubik's Cube.