President Donald Trump has granted Hungary a one-year exemption from sanctions over its purchase of Russian oil and gas, BBC reported Friday, citing an unnamed White House official.
The president, during a meeting with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán earlier that day, had said he was considering an exemption because “it’s very difficult for him [Orbán] to get the oil and gas from other areas.” After the meeting, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó wrote on X that “the United States has granted Hungary a full and unlimited exemption from sanctions on oil and gas.”
Last month the Trump administration imposed sweeping sanctions on two of Russia’s largest oil companies. Hungarian officials have maintained that the sanctions would severely harm their economy, saying their landlocked country is dependent on oil and gas from Russia for geographical reasons.
The conservative populist Orbán is a Trump ally who often feuds with the European Union over immigration, LGBT, and other issues. The exemption likely will spark anger in European capitals that favor escalating pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine.
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