The European Union requires a unanimous vote to extend sanctions on Russia, a situation Hungary's Viktor Orban wants to use to pressure the bloc into forcing Ukraine to reopen a transit pipeline for Russian gas.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called on the European Union to pressure Ukraine to re-establish the transit of Russian gas to Europe and linked the issue to extending sanctions against Moscow.

Hungary is imposing conditions on Ukraine in return for agreeing to the extension of the EU's economic sanctions on Russia, which expire at the end of the month. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on state radio that Kiev should reopen the pipeline that was closed at the beginning of the year and had previously transported Russian natural gas to