Overview
- Reuters cited a White House official who reiterated by email that Hungary’s exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian oil and gas is limited to one year.
- Prime Minister Viktor Orbán maintains the exemption is open-ended, saying he and President Donald Trump agreed to it at their White House meeting and sealed it with a handshake.
- Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó previously asserted that Hungary received an indefinite waiver following the November 7 talks in Washington.
- The reported arrangement includes a commitment by Hungary to diversify its energy sources through purchases of U.S. liquefied natural gas valued at roughly $600 million.
- Hungarian officials underscored the country’s reliance on Russian supplies, citing about 8.5 bcm of gas via Turkish Stream and 5 million tons of oil via the Druzhba pipeline in 2024.