White House denies Szijjártó's claim on sanctions – Reuters
Photo: Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó (Photo: flickr.com)
The White House has confirmed that Hungary received only a one-year exemption from US sanctions over its purchases of Russian gas and oil, reports Reuters.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó claimed on Saturday that Hungary had supposedly received an unlimited exemption from the sanctions, which could have been imposed on Budapest for buying energy from Russia.
Szijjártó said that they would receive a permanent exemption from sanctions, so the Hungarian people would continue to pay the lowest energy prices in Europe.
But later that same day, a White House spokesperson confirmed in an email to Reuters that the exemption would only last for one year.
Orbán’s visit to the US
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday, November 7, to negotiate a delay or exemption from sanctions.
Following the meeting, media reports suggested that the Hungarian leader had managed to wring a one-year waiver out of the US president. However, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó insisted that it was not true, claiming the exemption was unlimited.
Szijjártó wrote on Facebook that the prime minister had made it clear that he and the US president had agreed that they had received a permanent exemption from sanctions.
According to US media reports, Washington granted Hungary a one-year waiver from sanctions on Russian energy imports - but not for free. In exchange, Budapest agreed to purchase $600 million worth of American liquefied natural gas.
