The EU Friday agreed to drop three Russian individuals from its sanctions list as the price for Hungary's Viktor Orban to drop a threat to veto Europe's sanctions against Russia.

Russia may be freed from EU sanctions as early as the morning of March 16 if Hungary blocks their extension. Read below why this time Budapest's purely pragmatic demands have been joined by political ones,

Hungary has used its veto to force the lifting of EU sanctions on several Russians, several diplomats confirmed to dpa on Friday. One of the Russians involved is oligarch Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor, a major shareholder in one of Russia's largest fertilizer manufacturers who has close ties to President Vladimir Putin.