The President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, have agreed that Turkey will ensure the continued delivery of Russian gas to Hungary, Orbán announced on Monday. Hungary has maintained its dependence on Russian energy since the onset of the conflict in Ukraine, sparking criticism from several allies in the European Union and NATO, reports TVP World.
In 2021, Hungary signed a 15-year agreement with Russia to purchase 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year and increased its purchases from Gazprom last year, importing approximately 7.5 billion cubic meters of Russian gas through the Turkstream pipeline. “Today we agreed with the president that Turkey will guarantee the route, so that we can transport [gas] from Russia to Hungary,” Orbán said at a press conference broadcast by the state news channel M1. Orbán also stated that Hungary received 7.5 billion cubic meters of gas through the Turkstream pipeline this year.
Last month, the USA granted Hungary a one-year exemption from American sanctions for the use of Russian oil and gas, after Orbán insisted on this issue during a friendly meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington. Orbán also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow at the end of November. He stated on Facebook at the time that he was visiting Moscow “to ensure that Hungary’s energy supply is guaranteed for the winter and for next year.