Trump says Orban requested exemption from US sanctions on Russian oil but hasn’t been granted one

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Oct. 31 that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had asked Washington for an exemption from newly announced sanctions targeting Russia’s oil sector.

"The President — he has asked for an exemption. We haven’t granted one, but he has asked. He’s a friend of mine," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

The Trump administration last week unveiled sanctions against Russia’s state-linked oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil, measures that could expose their foreign buyers — including customers in India, China, and Central Europe — to secondary sanctions.

Orban, a close Trump ally who is expected to visit Washington next week for his first bilateral meeting with the U.S. president since returning to power in January, confirmed earlier that he would seek exemptions.

"We have to make the Americans understand this strange situation if we want exceptions to the American sanctions that are hitting Russia," Orban said on Oct. 31 in an interview with state radio.

While most EU member states have largely phased out Russian fossil-fuel imports since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Hungary and Slovakia have continued to receive pipeline deliveries. Budapest has even increased the share of Russian oil in its energy mix, arguing that replacing it would trigger an economic crisis — a claim critics reject.

Orban, widely seen as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest partner in the EU, has maintained ties with Moscow despite the war and has repeatedly portrayed Ukraine as a threat to Hungary’s security and economy.

The Hungarian leader said both Washington and Moscow want to end the war but blamed Kyiv and the EU for obstructing peace. A planned meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest was reportedly canceled after Russian officials signaled opposition to an immediate ceasefire.

Orban added that he would travel to the U.S. with a "large delegation" of ministers and economic and security officials for "a complete review" of U.S.–Hungarian relations and hopes to finalize a new package of economic cooperation and American investments.

One critical shortage keeps Ukraine’s interceptor drones from blocking out Russia’s Shaheds

October is coming to an end and as winter approaches, many Ukrainians find themselves more vulnerable than ever in the face of mounting Russian air attacks. In Kyiv, Russian combined missile and drone attacks routinely result in mass casualty events. Smaller-scale drone attacks which occur on a near-nightly basis have until recently posed much less of a threat. But overnight on Oct. 26, three people were killed and 32 others — including three children — were injured when two multi-story reside

The Kyiv IndependentKollen Post