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US insists Hungary’s waiver from sanctions only for year — Reuters

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto earlier said that the country "has received an indefinite exemption from sanctions," "but a White House official repeated in an email to Reuters on Saturday that the exemption is for one year," the agency says

© Jemal Countess/Getty Images

WASHINGTON, November 9. /TASS/. The White House insists that it only granted Hungary an exemption from sanctions on Russian oil and gas supplies for a year, not indefinitely, as Budapest says, Reuters news agency reported.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto earlier said that the country "has received an indefinite exemption from sanctions." He said that Prime Minister Viktor Orban and US President Donald Trump agreed on this at a meeting at the White House on November 7.

"But a White House official repeated in an email to Reuters on Saturday that the exemption is for one year," the agency says. The White House has not yet responded to a request from TASS.

On Friday evening, Orban said after talks with Trump that the United States would grant Hungary an indefinite exemption from sanctions, which could have obstructed the supply of oil through the Druzhba pipeline and gas through the Turkish Stream pipeline. Orban convinced the American leader of the need of the decision, since Hungary cannot yet do without Russian energy.

Szijjarto, who accompanied Orban during his visit to Washington, said then that in 2024, the Turkish Stream pipeline supplied 8.5 billion cubic meters of gas to Hungary, while the Druzhba pipeline brought it 5 million tons of oil. According to him, "approximately the same volume of supplies is expected this year.".

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