Hungary announces desire to continue purchasing Russian oil

Hungary is going to seek waivers from U.S. sanctions imposed on Russian companies that disrupt Russian oil and gas supplies to Central European countries, head of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Office Gergely Gulyas said.

Gulyas confirmed that European energy security is among the issues on the agenda of the upcoming meeting in Washington between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and U.S. President Donald Trump on November 7.

He reiterated that Hungary is a landlocked country and cannot meet its energy needs without pipeline supplies from Russia. The official expressed hope that the Trump administration will understand Hungary's situation.

Budapest aims to "obtain some kind of waiver from U.S. sanctions so that Russian natural gas and crude oil supplies can continue," Gergely Gulyas said.

Earlier, the U.S. included Rosneft, Lukoil, and 34 subsidiaries of these companies in a new package of anti-Russian sanctions, which will take full effect on November 21.