'Always at your disposal.' Leaked calls blow open Szijjártó–Lavrov sanctions talks
Photo: Péter Szijjártó, Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs (Getty Images)
Audio recordings of a conversation between Hungary's Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov have been leaked online. The discussion concerned lifting sanctions on influential Russians, reports VSquare.
The outlet writes that one hour after Szijjártó arrived in Budapest from St. Petersburg on August 30, 2024, Lavrov called him. The Russian Foreign Minister reminded him that Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov was seeking the removal of EU sanctions on his sister, Gulbahor Ismailova, and the Hungarian minister promised to help.
"Look, I am calling on the request of Alisher, and he just asked me to remind you that you were doing something about his sister," Lavrov said in the conversation.
In response, Szijjártó said he would help and explained that Hungary, together with Slovakia, was submitting a proposal to the European Union to remove Ismailova from the sanctions list.
"We will submit it next week, and as the new review period is going to be started it's gonna be put on the agenda, and we will do our best in order to get her off," the Hungarian minister said.
Szijjártó also told Lavrov that he had visited the new headquarters of Gazprom in Russia, adding: "I am always at your disposal."
The quality of the recording suggests it may have been made from Lavrov’s phone, as his voice is recorded in higher quality than Szijjártó’s. Seven months later, Ismailova was removed from the EU sanctions list.
Easing sanctions on Russians
An EU intelligence officer said that in his conversations with the Russian minister, Szijjártó appears submissive, almost sycophantic.
"If you remove names and show these conversations to any case officer, he will swear that this is a transcript of an intelligence officer working his asset," he said.
It is also noted that Ismailova was not the only case of easing sanctions on influential Russians. Along with her, Russian businessman Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor and Russia's sports minister, Mikhail Degtyarev, were also removed from the sanctions list.
Removal of sanctions 'for political reasons'
A European diplomat told journalists that Hungary and Slovakia typically start negotiations with a longer list of Russians they want removed from sanctions.
"They don't use legal arguments, they just say they don’t want those people on the sanctions list for political reasons," he said.
The diplomat added that during the latest round of negotiations on extending sanctions against the aggressor state in March, Slovakia and Hungary pressured the EU to remove Usmanov from the list.
"This time the negotiations went through Friday night until early Saturday morning on March 14, when Slovakia finally said it agreed to prolong the sanctions with Usmanov and Fridman's names on the list," he said.
What preceded
Recall that recently, The Washington Post reported that Szijjártó regularly maintained contact with Lavrov during breaks in Brussels meetings.
Due to such close communication, Russia was effectively present at the EU negotiating table at every meeting for many years.
Later, Szijjártó admitted that he regularly contacts Lavrov during closed meetings of the EU Council. At the same time, he claimed that no secrets are allegedly discussed at the ministerial level.
