European Union flags wave in the wind as pedestrians walk by EU headquarters in Brussels, on Sept 20, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

BRUSSELS/KYIV - The Council of the European Union on Monday extended its restrictive economic measures against Russia for a further six months.

Due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, the sanctions would be extended until July 31, said the EU Council in a press release.

Additionally, specific measures were introduced to strengthen the EU's ability to counter circumvention of sanctions, it added.

The EU has so far adopted 12 packages of sanctions against Russia, and Russia, in response, has taken countermeasures

As long as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues, the EU says it will maintain in force all the measures and will take additional measures, if necessary.

The EU has so far adopted 12 packages of sanctions against Russia, and Russia, in response, has taken countermeasures.

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Meanwhile, Kiev and Budapest have moved towards organizing a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the Ukrayinska Pravda media outlet reported Monday, citing Ukraine's presidential office.

"Today we took a very powerful step towards this meeting," Andriy Yermak, head of the president's office, said after his talks with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto in Ukraine's western city of Uzhhorod.

The parties anticipate that the meeting will open a new page in Ukrainian-Hungarian relations, Yermak said, without giving a timeline of the planned talks.

Kiev hopes that the meeting between Zelensky and Orban will bring "concrete results," Yermak stressed.

Earlier in the day, Szijjarto arrived in Uzhhorod on an official visit at the invitation of the Ukrainian side, Ukraine's presidential press service reported.

During his visit aimed at "normalizing bilateral relations" between Ukraine and Hungary, Szijjarto held talks with Yermak and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.