Trump's ally Orbán wants to circumvent new US sanctions against major Russian oil companies

Hungary's pro-Russian prime minister and close ally of the US president Donald Trump Viktor Orbán said that Budapest is working on finding a way to circumvent new US sanctions against major oil companies of Moscow. The politician's words on the air of the Hungarian state radio Kossuth reports Reuters.

Orbán said that he had discussed these restrictions with the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL.

"We are working on how to circumvent this sanction," the politician said.

At the same time, the Hungarian prime minister did not provide details or any signals that he plans to violate the new US restrictions.

MOL's refineries in Hungary and Slovakia, with a total capacity of 14.2 million tons of oil per year, depend on Russian raw materials transported through the Druzhba pipeline.

MOL's Slovak subsidiary Slovnaft said on October 23 that it is analyzing the possible impact on its operations from US sanctions that are due to take effect later in November.

In 2024, MOL faced supply problems when Ukraine imposed sanctions on Russia's Lukoil. To ensure continuity of supply, the company entered into agreements to take ownership of the restricted crude oil volumes on the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.

Trump's move to impose new sanctions has driven up oil prices and left questions for Hungary and Slovakia, which are the largest customers of Russian oil in the European Union after these countries received exemptions from the bloc's restrictions.

• On October 22, the United States imposed sanctions against major Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil and called on Moscow to immediately agree to a ceasefire.
• Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned new restrictions from Washington. At the same time, Reuters' interlocutors said that Chinese state-owned companies suspended purchases of Russian oil, transported by sea after new US sanctions.
• Meanwhile, US president reacted with irony to Russian dictator Putin's optimistic statements about the possible impact of new U.S. sanctions on Moscow.