Orbán: From a Hungarian perspective, Trump made a mistake with the sanctions imposed on Moscow

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will visit the United States next week to – if necessary – personally consult with President Donald Trump about the implications of the recent statement by Matt Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, the Hungarian Foreign Minister said. According to Péter Szijjártó, they are also examining "what exactly these decisions mean legally and physically." Whitaker previously said that the United States expects countries such as Hungary, which continue to purchase Russian oil and gas, to develop and implement plans for weaning themselves off of Russian energy sources as soon as possible.

Viktor Orbán, who is currently in the Vatican, addressed the subject in an interview with La Repubblica and said "I will soon be meeting with Trump to resolve the issue of oil sanctions." As he said, without Russian energy, Hungarian energy prices would "skyrocket," so in his opinion, from Hungary's perspective, Trump made a mistake.

“We will try to find a way out, especially for Hungary”, Orbán said.

"The recent US sanctions against Russia have not yet entered into force, so for the time being they do not represent any kind of disruption to Hungary's energy supply, but the government is examining the situation," Péter Szijjártó said when commenting on Whitaker's statement while holding a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar in Budapest on Monday.

"As far as our energy supply is concerned, I am not in favor of any kind of back-and-forth messaging. I have personally discussed this issue with Marco Rubio on several occasions, the Prime Minister has discussed it with the US President, and the Prime Minister will again have an opportunity to personally address this issue with the US President during the second half of next week in Washington," Szijjártó said.

Previously, in an interview with Fox News, Matt Whitaker said: “We expect countries such as Hungary, Turkey, and Slovakia, that continue to buy Russian oil and gas, to come up with a plan and execute it to wean themselves off Russian oil and gas”. He also singled out Hungary and added that unlike many of its neighbors, “Hungary has not made any plans or taken any active steps” in curbing its reliance on Russia.

“We will continue to work with Hungary and its neighbors, like Croatia, to help them wean themselves off Russian energy,” Whitaker said, adding: “There is a lot of planning our friends in Hungary need to do, and we will assist them in making and executing those plans, like a good ally should.”

Whitaker also said that Donald Trump holds all the cards in this situation and that Russia currently appears weak. The US President has previously made it clear that he would not meet with Vladimir Putin unless he is confident of reaching an agreement. The next step of the United States after the postponed Putin-Trump meeting in Budapest was to announce sanctions because, in Trump's view, Russia is not doing enough to bring about peace. The new sanctions are affecting Russia's two biggest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft.