Overview
- Hungary received a one-year exemption from new U.S. sanctions on Russian oil, according to White House officials following the leaders’ meeting.
- In exchange, Budapest committed to roughly $600 million in U.S. LNG purchases, a $114 million Westinghouse fuel contract for the Paks I plant, and an MoU on small modular reactors reported at up to $20 billion.
- Prime Minister Viktor Orbán claimed an open-ended, general exemption, a characterization disputed by U.S. officials who described the waiver as strictly time-limited.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine will not allow Russia to profit from oil sales to Hungary, as European voices including Romano Prodi criticized the carve-out.
- Hungary cites reliance on Russian energy via pipelines such as Druzhba, though refiner Mol Nyrt. has said the Croatian route could replace much of supply if Russian flows stop.