Orbán claims deal with Trump shields Hungary from US sanctions

"We shook hands with President Trump on an indefinite exemption of Hungary from American oil sanctions. As long as he is president there and I am prime minister here, there will be no sanctions," Orbán said.

According to him, the stakes for the country were "extremely high."

The politician noted that the introduction of US sanctions against Russian energy resources could have led to utility costs doubling or even tripling and to an increase in gas prices by one thousand forints (the official currency of Hungary) by Christmas.

"It would have been a real catastrophe," the Hungarian prime minister added.

The administration of Donald Trump denied the Hungarian side's statements about the alleged indefinite exemption of Budapest from American sanctions on the import of Russian oil and gas. Washington emphasized that it was only a one-year exemption.

Viktor Orbán, in a comment to Hungarian media, said that the country would continue to receive Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline, claiming that the United States had made an exception for Budapest from the sanctions.

American media reports that Washington indeed granted Hungary a one-year exemption from sanctions for the use of Russian energy resources. However, this decision comes at a price: Hungary has agreed to purchase American LNG worth approximately $600 million.

However, the role of the United States in this matter is limited. The key control over the transit of Russian oil to Europe is exercised by Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has already emphasized that Kyiv will not allow Russia to continue supplying oil to the EU.