A diplomatic dispute has emerged over the duration of a United States sanctions waiver granted to Hungary for its Russian oil and gas imports, following a meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and US President Donald Trump. Mr Orban met President Trump at the White House on Friday to press for a reprieve after the US recently imposed sanctions on Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft.
After the meeting, Mr Orban told Hungarian media that Budapest had “been granted a complete exemption from sanctions” affecting Russian gas delivered to Hungary from the TurkStream pipeline and oil from the Druzhba pipeline.The Prime Minister stated that the exemption was general and had “no time limit,” noting that the agreement was critical to preserving the government’s utility price reduction program.
However, a White House official told the Reuters news agency on Friday that Hungary had been granted a one-year exemption from the sanctions connected to using Russian energy. On Saturday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto publicly countered the White House official’s comment, writing on Facebook: “The prime minister was clear. He has agreed with the US President [Donald Trump] that we have obtained an indefinite exemption from the sanctions.”
Despite the Foreign Minister’s aggressive counter-claim of an “indefinite period,” the White House official repeated in an email to the Reuters news agency on Saturday that the exemption is strictly for one year. The US official also added that Hungary had committed to diversifying its energy purchases and agreed to buying US liquefied natural gas with contracts valued at some $600 million, a move which aligns with the US goal of reducing Europe’s reliance on Russian energy.
