Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán said he would try to persuade US President Donald Trump to grant Hungary an exemption from Washington’s new sanctions on Russian oil when they meet next week.
The Trump administration unveiled sanctions last week against Russia’s major state-affiliated oil firms Rosneft and Lukoil, a move that could expose their foreign buyers — including those in India, China and Central Europe — to secondary sanctions.
While most European Union member states sharply reduced or halted imports of Russian fossil fuels following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Hungary and Slovakia have maintained pipeline deliveries.
Hungary has even recently increased the share of Russian oil in its energy mix.
The Atlantic Council, a US think-tank, estimates that Hungary now sources 86% of its crude oil from Russia, up from 61% before the invasion of Ukraine, amid EU plans for a Russian-energy ban by 2028.
According to a study by CREA and the Centre for the Study of Democracy, Hungary and Slovakia’s Russian oil imports have generated €5.4 billion in tax revenue for the Kremlin since the invasion of Ukraine.
Orbán, a Trump ally who is expected to visit Washington next week for his first bilateral meeting with the president since retaking office in January, has long argued that landlocked Hungary has no viable alternatives to Russian crude and that replacing those supplies would trigger economic collapse. Critics dispute this claim.
“We have to make the Americans understand this unusual situation if we want exemptions from the American sanctions that are hitting Russia,” Orbán said in comments to state radio on Friday.
The Hungarian leader, widely regarded as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest partner in the EU, has maintained warm relations with the Kremlin despite the war and taken a combative stance towards Ukraine, portraying the neighbouring country as a major threat to Hungary’s security and economy.
Orbán said on Friday that both the US administration and Moscow were seeking an end to the war, but that Ukraine and the EU were the primary impediments to peace. However, a planned meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest was recently cancelled after Russian officials made clear they opposed an immediate ceasefire.
Orbán said he would be accompanied to Washington by a “large delegation” of ministers, economic officials and security advisers aimed at a “complete review” of US-Hungarian relations. He added that Budapest hopes to finalise an economic cooperation package with the US, including new American investment in Hungary.
However, he stressed that any deal would depend on securing Hungary’s continued access to Russian energy.
