US exempts sanctions on Russian oil to Hungary

According to RIA Novosti, after meeting with US President Donald Trump on November 7, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that energy supplies from Russia via the TurkStream and Druzhba pipeline to Hungary are completely exempt from US sanctions.

"We have been granted a full exemption from sanctions on the Turkish Stream and Druzhba pipelines. There are no sanctions that restrict Russian supplies to Hungary through these pipelines or make them more expensive. This is a general exemption, with no time limit," Prime Minister Orban said at a press conference broadcast on his YouTube channel.

Mr Orban added that the US had also completely lifted sanctions on the Paks II nuclear power plant project, and Budapest would no longer need to regularly renew the exemptions. Hungary would buy fuel from Russia, France and the US for the Paks nuclear power plant.

"We have agreed that the American company Westinghouse will participate in Hungary's nuclear industry... First, we will buy nuclear fuel from Westinghouse," the Hungarian Prime Minister said.

Speaking about the Russia-US summit in Budapest, Prime Minister Orbán stressed that the meeting is still on the agenda; there is no specific date yet, but it will take place when the conditions are met. Mr. Orbán also expressed his readiness to support US President Donald Trump in achieving peace in Ukraine.

The meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the White House was the first since the US-Russia summit was postponed. From the beginning of the talks, the US President did not rule out the possibility of meeting his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Budapest. He cited the Russian military in Ukraine "not wanting to stop" as the reason for the summit not taking place.