Rubio denies Orban's statement: Hungary's sanctions exemption is only for a year

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has confirmed that Hungary's exemption from sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil is only for a year, not indefinitely, as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban claims. He told journalists in Canada on Wednesday, November 12.

"In the case of the oil and gas pipelines, it is a one-year extension, because an immediate cutoff of supply would be very traumatic for the economy. This is a very small part of what Russia sells. [For Hungary, it is almost all that it buys. Losing access to these energy resources would be a serious destabilizing factor for Hungary," Rubio said .

At the same time, the United States will not interfere with the construction of the Paks-2 nuclear power plant in Hungary by Russian companies and their international subcontractors. The contract for the construction of new power units was awarded without a tender to the Russian company Atomenergoproekt (JSC NIAEP) as part of an agreement with Russia.

• nov. 6 Zelenskiy says Ukraine will not allow Russia to sell oil to Hungary in any case , and calls it "a matter of time".
• Nov. 7 Orban says the U.S. has agreed to release Hungary from sanctions on Russian oil and gas.