Hungarian PM Viktor Orban has repeatedly called for “the failed policy of Brussels” to be changed, noting that the sanctions “didn’t fulfill the hopes that were pinned on them,” while Europe is “slowly bleeding.”

The European Union has exhausted its options for further economic restrictions against Russia. But even after the ten rounds of sanctions in response to the Ukraine conflict and currently working on an eleventh package of punitive measures against Moscow, EU officials have admitted that those parts of the Russian economy that were left unsanctioned are parts that one or more EU member states “can’t live without,” and thus measures targeting them would be vetoed.

One of the EU officials told that“We are done, “If we do more sanctions, there will be more exemptions than measures.” Officials have admitted that the embargo harms the EU and West more than Moscow.

Newly planned restrictions could reportedly target Russia’s nuclear fuel and services exports, but those would be opposed by some member-states, such as France, Hungary, and others.