BUDAPEST, September 26. /TASS/. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he told US President Donald Trump during their recent conversation that Hungary’s economy would collapse if it stopped importing Russian oil and gas.

"I told the US president ... that if Hungary is cut off from Russian oil and natural gas, immediately, within a minute, Hungarian economic performance will drop by 4%. <...>. This means that the Hungarian economy will be brought to its knees," Orban said, as quoted by the Associated Press. He added that abandoning Russian energy resources would be a "disaster."

The prime minister stressed that Hungary would make its own decisions on oil imports from Russia, guided primarily by its economic interests. Earlier, Hungarian officials confirmed that Orban and Trump had held a phone call during which Orban insisted on Hungary’s need for Russian oil. The Hungarian government said it believes Trump understood Budapest’s position.

On September 20, Trump announced that US Permanent Representative to NATO Matthew Whitaker intended to push Washington’s European allies to stop buying Russian oil. A week earlier, on September 13, the US leader said he was ready to impose tough sanctions on Moscow if all NATO members acted in unison and halted imports of Russian energy. He noted that the continued purchases of Russian resources by some allies had "weakened the alliance's negotiating position."