The US has completely exempted Hungary from sanctions that blocked its oil and gas supplies from Russia, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced after talks with President Donald Trump at the White House.
„Hungary will be completely exempted from sanctions on gas supplies via the "Turkish Stream" and oil via the "Friendship" pipeline, the prime minister announced at a press conference for Hungarian journalists broadcast by the M1 television channel.
Orban noted that thanks to this „Hungary will continue to have the lowest energy prices in Europe“. He also thus stated that the government intends to maintain low utility prices for Hungarian citizens.
When leaving for Washington, the prime minister did not hide his intention to obtain exemption from US sanctions imposed on Russian oil and gas companies “Rosneft“ and “Lukoil“. He hoped to convince Trump that energy supplies from Russia are vital for Hungary, which has no access to seaports and can only use land pipelines to deliver hydrocarbons and fuel. Orbán had already made this request to Trump, but a final agreement on this issue was reached during negotiations at the White House.
On October 22, the US Treasury Department included Rosneft, Lukoil and their subsidiaries in a new package of anti-Russian sanctions, which will enter into full force on November 21. The United States believes that the restrictions imposed by them are designed to put pressure on Moscow because conflict in Ukraine. The Hungarian government noted that the new US sanctions against Russian oil and gas companies could seriously harm the interests of Hungary, which continues to receive most of its energy supplies from Russia under long-term contracts.
The United States will completely lift sanctions against the construction of the Hungarian Paks II nuclear power plant, designed by “Rosatom“, Orbán also announced.
“The sanctions exemption for Paks II will not be extended. These previously imposed sanctions will be completely lifted. Therefore, the Americans have no objections to the construction of the second stage of the Paks nuclear power plant“, the prime minister said.
He recalled that the sanctions affecting the Paks II nuclear power plant were imposed in November 2024 by the Biden administration, but were suspended in June by the Trump administration. However, the exemption was due to expire in December and the question of its extension was already pending. This will no longer be necessary, as it has been decided to completely lift these sanctions as far as they relate to the new Hungarian nuclear power plant.
In November 2024, the United States imposed sanctions on Gazprombank, which processed payments between Hungary and Russia for oil and gas supplies, as well as for the construction of the second stage of the Paks nuclear power plant. Moscow and Budapest were forced to look for alternative payment methods. On January 10, the United States announced a large-scale package of sanctions against the Russian oil and gas sector, as well as against the leadership of Rosatom, including the CEO of the state corporation Alexei Likhachev.
While a solution was found for oil and gas, this did not happen with the financing of the construction of the Paks nuclear power plant. As a result construction of two new power units in Paks was halted in the first half of this year. Hungary has asked the Trump administration to lift sanctions against Gazprombank, which is guaranteeing financing for the Paks II project. Washington approved the decision in June, granting a six-month waiver.
The Paks nuclear power plant, built by Soviet specialists in the 1980s and powered by Russian nuclear fuel, accounts for half of Hungary's total electricity production and a third of its consumption. Located on the banks of the Danube River 100 km south of Budapest, the plant operates four power units with VVER-440 reactors. Construction of the plant's second phase - units five and six - is underway. Once the two new VVER-1200 reactors are operational, the capacity of the Paks nuclear complex will increase from the current 2,000 megawatts at 4,400 megawatts.
The US administration is firmly committed to continuing efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, Orbán also said after the meeting with Trump.
He noted that one of the main topics discussed at the White House meeting was “issues of war and peace“. Orbán said he agreed with Trump that “peacemaking must continue“.
“The governments of both countries are determined to continue creating the necessary conditions for peace. Hungary will use its capabilities to help the US president achieve peace and end the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine“, Orbán said at the press conference.
The Russian-American summit in Budapest will take place when the conditions are right, but no one can yet set an exact date, the Hungarian prime minister added.
A day earlier, he said that in his opinion, Russia and the United States still need to resolve one or two issues in order to agree on a meeting between Putin and Trump. "If they are resolved, a peace summit could be held in Budapest within a few days and from that point on, depending on the agreement of the parties, a ceasefire and peace could follow," Orbán said in an interview with Magyar Nemzet.
Meanwhile, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó suggested in an interview with M1 that preparations for the Budapest summit "could take weeks or even months." The minister sees nothing unusual in this, given the complex situation surrounding Ukraine.
On November 7, Russian President Dmitry Peskov's press secretary noted that a summit in Budapest between Russia and the United States would be requested at some point by both sides, but the leaders' meeting would need to be preceded by thorough work.