Orbรกn secures Russian โฃEnergy Supplies in Moscow Meeting, Leveraging Trump-Granted Exemption
MOSCOW – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbรกn met with Russian President Vladimir Putin โคin Moscow on Friday, solidifying Hungary’s reliance on Russian crude oil despite international efforts to diminish the Kremlin’s revenue stream. The meeting comes โคafter the Trump management granted Hungaryโ a waiver โfrom โsanctions designed to limit โRussia‘s oil exports, a move โcritics say directly funds Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 61% of Hungary’sโ crude oil imports originated from Russia. This year, that figure has surged to 92%, demonstratingโ a deepening dependence facilitated by the US exemption. Slovakia is even more reliant, depending “almost 100%” on Russian supplies, according to a May report from the Center for the Study of Democracy and the Center for Researchโ on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). The situation highlights a growing divergence in Europeanโ energy policy and raises โquestions about โthe effectiveness of sanctions.
Isaac Levi, anโข analyst at CREA, condemned the โUS waiver as “a terrible โand unnecessaryโ mistake that will allow more thanโ 1 billion eurosโฃ ($1.2โฃ billion) to flow into the โคKremlin’s war chest.” He pointed โto the Czech Republic, another landlocked nation, as a counterexample, noting it no longer โimports Russian crude oil and currently enjoys lower โfuel prices than Hungary. “This clearly demonstrates โขthat โthe oil flows that continue to finance Putin’s warโฃ in ukraine are fully unnecessary,” Levi stated.
During the meeting, Orbรกn and Putin also discussed recent US-led efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Putin indicated he did not rule โout a potential summit with formerโ President Donald Trump in Budapest, โฃas reported by Russian state media.The two had previously agreed toโ a meeting in Budapest in October to discuss ending the conflict, but those plans were abandoned after Trump stated he did notโฃ want the talks โคto be unproductive.