Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the US administration and the Hungarian government are in constant contact at all levels.

Responding to questions at a press conference, Minister Szijjártó said the most important topic currently was "brokering peace in Ukraine". Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has talked with US President Donald Trump, and this week there will be further high-level talks between the US president's administration and the Hungarian government, he said.

"It seems that several European leaders are trying to throw a wrench into Donald Trump's peace efforts," he said, adding that Hungary fully supported the latter."We know very well that a US-Russia agreement is the only way to find peace in the region, and we will participate in European debates of the coming period accordingly," he said.

Regarding next week's European summit, Minister Szijjártó said there was a "strategic difference" between pro-war and pro-peace players "that cannot be bridged by tricks of communication or wording". PM Orbán had therefore proposed that the summit forego even proposing a closing declaration because there would be no agreement, he said.

"We want the war to end, while the others -- or most of them -- want to prolong it... There is no common ground between the two. If they want a debate on that, the result will be that Europe will project the image of a divided entity. We think this would be best avoided," he said.

Regarding the London summit on Sunday, Minister Szijjártó said Hungary "has no business at the talks of pro-war" players. "We don't want to prolong the war ... we want to end it. We don't need to be at talks where they decide to prolong it..."

Asked about the extension of sanctions against Russian individuals, Minister Szijjártó said it was the European Commission's turn to act. He said the EC had made guarantees regarding the Hungarian energy security in relation to Ukraine on four points, and they had already breached two. He said he had written a letter to the EU's foreign and security chief, asking whether those guarantees were still seen as valid.

"I'll wait for an answer and then make a decision. We still have a little time until March 10, the deadline for the decision on extending sanctions..." he said.