US grants Hungary exemption on Russian oil sanctions

The United States has granted Hungary a one-year exemption from US sanctions for using Russian oil and gas, a White House official said on Friday, after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pressed his case for a reprieve during a friendly meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington.

Orban said the issue was vital for Hungary, which is a European country, and pledged to lay out "the consequences for the Hungarian people, and for the Hungarian economy."

"We're looking at it, because it's very different for him to get the oil and gas from other areas," Trump said. "As you know, they don't have ... the advantage of having sea. It's a great country, it's a big country, but they don't have sea. They don't have the ports."

The White House official noted that, in addition to the sanctions exemption, Hungary had committed to buying US liquefied natural gas with contracts valued at some $600 million.

WAM