LONDON, September 23. /TASS/. Hungary will continue to buy oil from Russia, regardless of what the US says, because without it, the country’s supply cannot be ensured, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian.
"For us, energy supplies are a purely physical question. It can be nice to dream about buying oil and gas from somewhere [besides Russia] … but we can only buy from where we have infrastructure. And if you look at the physical infrastructure, it’s obvious that without the Russian supplies, it is impossible to ensure the safe supply of the country," he said.
The Hungarian Foreign Minister also stressed that it is " totally impossible to carry out a fact-based, rational dialogue based on common sense" with Western European countries. He called western European officials "fanatics."
Szijjarto noted that relations between Budapest and Brussels remain tense, while relations with the United States have improved. He added that "having the American president as your friend is totally different compared to when they put pressure on you, regardless of what is coming from Brussels is very, very severe."
On September 13, US President Donald Trump stated that he was prepared to impose tough sanctions on Russia if all members of the North Atlantic Alliance acted together and stopped purchasing Russian oil. He noted that the continued import of energy resources from Russia by some NATO allies had "weakened the alliance's negotiating position." Furthermore, Trump called on NATO countries to impose import tariffs of 50-100% on China. He said this would help end the Ukrainian crisis, but that such tariffs could be lifted after a peace settlement.