An interception of the conversation between the Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó and the head of Russian diplomacy Sergey Lavrov suggests that the official from Budapest may have mediated the lifting of European sanctions against the associates of oligarch Alisher Usmanov.
According to The Insider, Szijjártó has repeatedly transmitted sensitive information of the European Union to Russia. In one of the discussions with Lavrov, the official claims that Hungary and Slovakia are preparing a proposal regarding the lifting of sanctions applied against Usmanov’s sister, notes digi24.ro
According to European intelligence officials, the tone of the exchanges more closely resembles that between a “coordinator and a source”, rather than that between two equal officials.
On August 30, 2024, just an hour after the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó, arrived in Budapest, having departed from Saint Petersburg, the official received a phone call from his Russian counterpart.
Lavrov told Szijjártó that he had been quoted in the Russian press, following his visit. “Did I say something wrong?”, asked the Hungarian official. “No, no, no. They were just saying that you pragmatically fight for your country’s interests,” responded the head of Russian diplomacy.
Subsequently, Lavrov made a request to Alisher Usmanov for Gulbahor Ismailova to be removed from the EU sanctions lists. Szijjártó promised assistance and said: “I am always at your disposal” at the end of the discussion.
(Note: The text is a HTML code and it does not require translation as it is universally used in web development.)