Hungary declined to automatically extend sanctions against Russia and suggested holding discussions instead.

The fate of the European Union's sanctions against Russia is in question after a senior Hungarian official indicated that their renewal by the end of the month should not be automatic and called for "debate."

This was reported by RBK-Ukraine citing Bloomberg.

The election of Donald Trump in the U.S. has created a "new situation," meaning that the renewal of sanctions should not be "automatic," said Cabinet Minister Gergely Gulyás to reporters.

He declined to answer repeated questions about whether Prime Minister Viktor Orbán would veto the extension of sanctions or whether an extraordinary EU summit would need to be convened on this issue.

Orbán, who has repeatedly called for the lifting of sanctions against Russia, finds himself in an awkward political position after Trump threatened Russia with new tariffs on Wednesday if President Vladimir Putin fails to reach an "agreement" to end the war with Ukraine.

Until now, the Hungarian leader has stated that Trump would try to end the war by stopping aid to Ukraine.

EU ambassadors will meet in the coming days to determine if they can advance the extension, which until now has been a routine process but requires unanimous support from all 27 member states of the bloc. Several diplomats have stated that there is currently no backup plan for extending sanctions if Orbán continues to block them.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell expressed a degree of optimism that the EU will reach an agreement to maintain sanctions against Russia before their expiration at the end of the month.

"I am optimistic because we have always ultimately achieved unity and maintained it until now, so I am confident that we will succeed this time as well," she said, referring to previous discussions on sanctions.