Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on December 8, during which an agreement was reached to maintain the supply of Russian gas to Hungary through Turkish territory. Orban emphasized that the United States had previously provided guarantees that American sanctions on Russian energy resources would not apply to Hungary. Additionally, the Russian Federation confirmed its readiness to continue supplying oil products and gas to the Hungarian market.
This is reported by Business • Media
“Today, it was agreed with President Erdogan that the Turks will ensure a route for this,” Orban stated.
Statistics on Hungary’s Energy Resource Imports
According to the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 2025, the country imported over 8.5 million tons of oil and more than 7 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia. This underscores the significant dependence of the Hungarian economy on Russian energy resources even amid sanctions pressure.
European Countries’ Expenditures on Russian Energy Resources
The U.S. State Department recently released data on European countries’ expenditures for purchasing energy resources from Russia and the volume of financial support for Ukraine. According to these calculations, Hungary paid the Russian Federation about $22 billion for oil and gas from February 2022 to January 2025, while the volume of aid to Kyiv remained minimal. Slovakia, another country with close ties to the Kremlin, spent approximately $18 billion on Russian energy resources, while its support for Ukraine amounted to about $1.5 billion. Turkey emerged as a leader in these figures — purchases of Russian oil and gas reached around $32 billion, while aid to Ukraine was minimal.