#russian-energy

#russian-energy

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his very large team of ministers, propagandists and members of the country's well-connected economic elite flew to Washington on November 7 to meet President Donald Trump, the first bilateral meeting of the two leaders since his return to power. The trip itself was unprecedented in its scale and unusual because of its historical context. A veritable spectacle. Trump has been pressuring Orban to align with his sanctions on Russian fossil fuels and purchase more American LNG.

Orban said Hungary had "received full exemption from sanctions" affecting Russian oil and gas delivered to Hungary from the Druzhba and TurkStream pipelines during a press briefing with Hungarian media. "We asked the president to lift the sanctions," said Orban, adding that Hungary is "in a significantly different situation than other European countries." According to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity, Hungary will be granted a one-year exemption.

He said that the new sanctions "will introduce new and comprehensive measures on oil and gas, the shadow fleet and Russia's financial sector." A new system for limiting the movement of Russian diplomats within the 27-nation EU will also be introduced. The move comes a day after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration announced new sanctions against Russia's oil industry that are aimed at moving Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and ending Moscow's war on Ukraine.