| |
Hungary to Push for Oil Exemption 10/31 06:20
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbn said Friday
that he would try to persuade U.S. President Donald Trump to grant Hungary
exemptions from Washington's newly announced sanctions targeting Russian oil
when he meets with the president next week.
The Trump administration unveiled sanctions against Russia's major
state-affiliated oil firms Rosneft and Lukoil last week, a move that could
expose their foreign buyers -- including customers in India, China and Central
Europe -- to secondary sanctions.
While most European Union member states sharply reduced or halted imports of
Russian fossil fuels after Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24,
2022, Hungary and Slovakia have maintained their pipeline deliveries. Hungary
has even increased the share of Russian oil in its energy mix.
Orbn, a Trump ally who is expected to visit Washington next week for his
first bilateral meeting with the president since he retook office in January,
has long argued that landlocked Hungary has no viable alternatives to Russian
crude, and that replacing those supplies would trigger an economic collapse.
Critics dispute that claim.
"We have to make the Americans understand this strange situation if we want
exceptions to the American sanctions that are hitting Russia," Orbn said in
comments Friday to state radio.
The Hungarian leader, widely considered Russian President Vladimir Putin's
closest partner in the EU, has maintained warm relations with the Kremlin,
despite the war, and has taken a combative stance toward Ukraine, portraying
the neighboring country as a major threat to Hungary's security and economy.
Orbn said Friday that both the U.S. administration and Moscow were seeking
an end to the war, but that Ukraine and the EU were the primary impediments to
peace. However, a planned meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest was
recently scrapped after Russian officials made clear they opposed an immediate
ceasefire in the conflict.
Orbn said that he would be accompanied to Washington by a "large
delegation" of ministers, economic officials and security advisers aimed at "a
complete review" of U.S.-Hungarian relations. He said that Budapest hopes to
finalize an economic cooperation package with the U.S., including new American
investments in Hungary.
But any deal, he stressed, depends on securing Hungary's continued access to
Russian energy.
|
|
