U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he is considering exempting Hungary from sanctions on imports of Russian oil, citing the country’s heavy dependence on energy supplies from the region. He made the remarks during a White House meeting with his long-time ally, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
“We’re looking at it, because it’s very hard for him to get oil and gas from other sources. As you know, they have no access to the sea,” Trump told reporters during his talks with Orbán.
The Hungarian prime minister stressed that Russian energy is vital for his country.
He added that he intended to explain to Trump “what the consequences would be for the Hungarian people and the economy if the country could no longer receive oil and gas from Russia.”
“We are supplied through pipelines. A pipeline is not an ideological or political issue, but a physical reality, because we have no ports,” Orbán said.