Hungary’s nationalist prime minister says country received exemption from US sanctions on Russia energy sector after meeting with Trump.
Published On 7 Nov 2025
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Updated: 3 hours ago
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said his country has received an exemption from United States sanctions on Russian energy after a meeting in the White House with President Donald Trump.
Orban, a longtime Trump ally, visited Washington on Friday seeking to convince the US president to allow Hungary to continue importing Russian oil and gas without being subject to the sanctions Trump’s administration has placed on Moscow over its war on Ukraine.
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During a news briefing with Hungarian media following his talks with Trump, Orban 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,” Orban said. “We agreed and the president decided, and he said that the sanctions will not be applied to these two pipelines,” he said.
A White House official later confirmed to the Reuters news agency that Hungary had been granted a one-year exemption from sanctions connected to using Russian energy.
Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a post on social media that Trump’s granting of an exemption “guarantees Hungary’s energy security”.
A major outcome of today’s meeting between President @realDonaldTrump and @PM_ViktorOrban: the United States has granted Hungary a full and unlimited exemption from sanctions on oil and gas. We are grateful for this decision, which guarantees Hungary’s energy security.
— Péter Szijjártó (@FM_Szijjarto) November 7, 2025
Orban also said that Hungary will buy nuclear fuel from the US-based Westinghouse Electric Company.
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.
Hungary’s exemption from US sanctions comes as other countries – including Washington’s allies such as India, which had previously bought Russian oil with little protest from the Trump administration – have scrambled to respond to the abrupt change in US policy that threatens to impose punitive measures and restrict their access to Russian oil.
Earlier on Friday, Trump spoke admiringly of Orban, praising his approach towards issues such as immigration, but he did not explicitly state whether he would grant Hungary exemptions to the Russian energy sanctions.
“We are looking at it because it is very difficult for him to get the oil and gas from other areas,” Trump said.
“As you know, they don’t have the advantage of having the sea,” Trump told reporters, adding that he was unhappy that other European nations continued to buy Russian energy.
Among European leaders, Orban is considered more sympathetic towards Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Hungary has often been an obstacle towards European Union efforts to step up pressure on Moscow to end its war on Ukraine.
During their meeting, Orban said Trump was working to end the conflict but that the EU has insisted on pursuing total victory on the battlefield for Ukraine, a goal he framed as unrealistic.
Asked by Trump whether he thought Ukraine could not win the war, Orban said that perhaps a “miracle can happen”.
US tariffs on the EU have had a negative impact on Hungary’s economy, and gaining concessions on the purchase of Russian oil and gas could hand Orban a political victory and boost his standing at home.
Trump has frequently used US leverage to assist political allies in other countries.
