Orbán says Trump will not punish Hungary for buying Russian energy, reducing impact of sanctions

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán says his country has received an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian energy after a meeting in the White House with President Donald Trump, an allowance that will keep Russian oil and gas flowing to Hungary in a sign of the close affinity between the two leaders.

Orbán, a longtime Trump ally, had come to Washington seeking to convince the president to allow Hungary to continue importing Russian oil and gas without being subject to sanctions Trump's administration has placed on Russian fossil fuels. A White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, said Hungary will get an exemption for a year.

Hungary has also been under heavy pressure to end its reliance on Russian energy from the European Union, most of which has heavily cut or ceased its imports of Russian oil and gas.

The nationalist Hungarian leader has called access to Russian energy a “vital” issue for his landlocked country, and said he planned to discuss with Trump the “consequences for the Hungarian people” if the sanctions took effect.

During a press briefing with Hungarian media following his talks with Trump, Orbán said Hungary had "been granted a complete exemption from sanctions” affecting Russian gas delivered to Hungary from the TurkStream pipeline, and oil from the Druzhba pipeline.

“We asked the president to lift the sanctions,” Orbán said. “We agreed and the president decided, and he said that the sanctions will not be applied to these two pipelines.”

Hungary agreed to buy U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) as part of the discussions, the U.S. State Department said in a fact sheet, noting contracts were expected to be worth about $600 million. The two nations also agreed to work together on nuclear energy, including small modular reactors.

Hungary will also purchase nuclear fuel from the U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric Company, Orbán said. That fuel will be used to power Hungary’s Paks nuclear plant, which until now has relied on Russian-supplied nuclear fuel, though Hungarian officials earlier stressed that Budapest will continue its purchase of Russian nuclear fuel as well.

A large delegation of cabinet members, business leaders and numerous right-wing political influencers with close connections to Hungary’s government accompanied Orbán to Washington. The delegation rented a 220-passenger commercial jet from Hungarian carrier Wizz Air for the journey.

Prior to Orbán’s arrival on Thursday, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced a resolution calling on Hungary to end its dependence on Russian energy.

The resolution was co-signed by 10 senators including Republicans Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, as well as Democrats Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Chris Coons of Delaware. It “expresses concern that Hungary has shown no sign of reducing its dependence on Russian fossil fuels,” and urges Budapest to adhere to a European Union plan to cease all Russian energy imports into the bloc by the end of 2027.

“Europe has made extraordinary progress cutting its energy ties with Moscow, but Hungary’s actions continue to undermine collective security and embolden the Kremlin,” Shaheen wrote in a statement. The resolution, she continued, “sends a clear message that when it comes to buying Russian energy, all allies should be held to the same standard, and that includes Hungary.”

After arriving in Washington, Orbán and some of his top officials met with Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who in September was sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup after an election loss. Orbán posted on social media: “We stand firmly with the Bolsonaros in these challenging times — friends and allies who never give up. Keep fighting: political witch-hunts have no place in democracy, truth and justice must prevail!”

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Spike reported from Budapest, Hungary.