Hungarian foreign minister meets Russian counterpart Lavrov at UN

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and suggested that others should also.
"It would be good if other Western politicians did the same," the Hungarian state news agency MTI quoted him as saying on Friday evening. Then there would be more hope to end the war in Ukraine, he added.
"I don't think any more sanctions packages (by the European Union) are necessary." Szijjártó reportedly told Lavrov, according to a Russian state news agency TASS report on Saturday.
Sanctions talks are always "emotional, political and ideological," Szijjártó was quoted as saying.
Europe has suffered more damage from the sanctions than Russia, he added.
Szijjártó was the only top politician from an EU country to hold diplomatic talks with Lavrov in New York during the annual UN meeting.
Under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Hungary maintains good relations with Moscow, despite the ongoing Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Budapest has only half-heartedly supported EU sanctions imposed against Russia because of the war.
The EU has been unable to adopt sanctions at times because of Hungarian veto threats.
TASS also reported that Szijjártó plans to visit Moscow in October to discuss energy issues with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak.
Hungary imports natural gas and oil from Russia. Budapest secured an exemption for oil imports, which are subject to EU sanctions.