Overview
- Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjártó announced that the United States approved an exemption covering Russian oil and gas, calling it unlimited and vital for Hungary’s energy security.
- A White House official told AFP the waiver would last one year and be conditioned on Budapest purchasing roughly $600 million of U.S. liquefied natural gas.
- President Donald Trump hosted Viktor Orbán at the White House, praised his immigration stance, and said Hungary’s landlocked geography makes non‑Russian supply difficult.
- The move follows U.S. sanctions imposed last month on Rosneft and Lukoil, which pressured countries such as Hungary that still rely on Russian crude supplied by pipeline.
- Reporting also says Washington agreed to steps affecting a U.S.-funded Hungarian-language outlet, intensifying political reverberations in the EU and for Orbán ahead of elections.