The utility price cuts have been successfully defended, and Hungary will receive full exemption from US sanctions on Russian energy carriers in the case of the Turkish Stream and Friendship pipelines, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced after talks with US President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday.
“We held a Hungarian Day in Washington”, began Viktor Orbán at a press conference, recalling that not only had a summit meeting between the prime minister and the president taken place, but bilateral ministerial talks had also been held, with the participation of the Minister of Economy, the Minister of Defense, and the Minister of Innovation and Culture, among others.
He noted that Donald Trump does not think of Hungary as a distant country, but as one whose citizens have brought much glory and success to the United States. This expression of esteem on his part is not just diplomatic courtesy, but more than that, it has real substance, and I felt that it was a sincere friendship and recognition of Hungary, Viktor Orbán explained.
The Prime Minister described the bilateral talks as follows: the leaders of two allied states held talks and did not identify a single significant issue on which the two states’ opinions differed or were in conflict. There are no strategic differences or conflicts between the interests of the two countries, but there are quite a few points of agreement, and there were also issues to be resolved, he added. The prime minister announced that the reduction in utility costs had been successfully defended and that Hungary would continue to have the lowest energy prices in Europe.
“We have created all the necessary preconditions for this, which specifically means that
we have received complete exemption from sanctions in the case of the Turkish Stream and the Friendship pipeline,”
he said, adding that there are no sanctions that would restrict or make more expensive the supply coming from there to Hungary. “This is a general exemption with no time limit,” Viktor Orbán emphasized.
Responding to a question about the exemption from sanctions on Russian oil and natural gas, Viktor Orbán said that they had sat down and examined the issue and concluded that Hungary’s situation was significantly different from that of other European countries. It is not possible to maintain the country’s secure energy supply and provide affordable energy to Hungarian families and businesses if sanctions continue to be imposed on two “key pipelines,” he said.
He emphasized that this is why they asked Donald Trump to lift these sanctions. We asked for two pipelines to be exempted from all sanctions, one that brings gas from the south and the other that brings oil from the east, and the president decided that these sanctions would not be applied to these two pipelines, the prime minister recalled.
Viktor Orbán recalled that the United States had recently announced a system of sanctions that it generally applies to Russian energy, regardless of which country is affected and how. In his words, this general sanctions regime would have brought Hungary to its knees. He emphasized that from the end of November, every Hungarian household would have paid two and a half times, or possibly three times, more for utilities than they did in October or November. Measured by Hungarian standards, this would have meant an unbearable price increase for households, not to mention businesses, many of which would have gone bankrupt, closed down, and left many people unemployed, Viktor Orbán said.
He added that “we were in a vise, or already had the noose around our necks, and we had to get ourselves out of it,” which is what happened.
He emphasized that this was mainly thanks to Péter Szijjártó, because the final decision was in his hands, and they had convincing arguments that the US president could agree with.
I can only say what I said to the American president today, that the Ukrainians can win: miracles do happen!” he noted.
In response to a question, he clarified that there is an American and a EU sanctions system for energy supply systems. As a result of the current negotiations, Hungary has pulled itself out from under the American sanctions system, but the fight against the European sanctions system is “another match” that must be fought in Brussels, and this may take place in December, he added.
Viktor Orbán also announced that an agreement had been reached with the US on nuclear cooperation issues. An agreement was also reached on the Paks2 issue: the sanctions imposed by the Biden administration will be lifted, and there will be no US objections to the construction of Paks2, he added. He said that Westinghouse will join Hungary’s nuclear energy industry, which is a new development, as Americans have never participated in this before. He explained that they will first purchase fuel from the American company. He also mentioned that
they had agreed to introduce American technology in Hungary and pave the way for small nuclear power plants. To this end, he said, parliament would have to amend a few laws next week.
Hungary will also receive American technology that is better and more modern than what we are currently using, which will enable us to store spent fuel safely.
The Hungarian Prime Minister also said that further American investments will be coming to Hungary. He mentioned that there are currently around 1,400 American companies operating in Hungary, employing approximately 100,000 people. Viktor Orbán said that the significance of the new investments is that, in addition to creating jobs, they will further raise the technical level of the Hungarian economy. The prime minister indicated that a military and space industry agreement had been concluded, giving Hungary access to state-of-the-art defense weapons.
Viktor Orbán also reported that both the American and Hungarian governments are determined to continue their peace-building efforts. The Budapest meeting is on the agenda, but it is not yet known when the event aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine will take place, he said. He added that Hungary expressly recommends its capabilities to help end the war in Ukraine.
When asked about the chances for peace, Viktor Orbán said: In Hungary, it is obvious to almost everyone that Ukraine cannot defeat Russia in war, but in America and the major European countries, they are asking the question as if it were an open question who will win.
I can only say what I said to the American president today, that the Ukrainians can win: miracles do happen!” he noted.
Responding to a press report on the energy agreement, Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said that the report was accurate in that the agreement contained three points, “nothing more.” The delivery of fuel elements is worth approximately USD 100 million, so there is no question of hundreds of billions, he said. He added that in the coming period, the energy needs of the Hungarian economy will increase, and Hungarian nuclear capacity will also grow, so new fuel elements will be needed in addition to existing supply relationships. He pointed out that this means that American fuel elements will be purchased while maintaining existing supply relationships.
A milestone in Hungarian–American relations: we signed a nuclear energy cooperation agreement with @SecRubio. pic.twitter.com/tO9nUJsKRU
— Péter Szijjártó
A milestone in Hungarian–American relations: we signed a nuclear energy cooperation agreement with @SecRubio. pic.twitter.com/tO9nUJsKRU
— Péter Szijjártó (@FM_Szijjarto) November 7, 2025
President @realDonaldTrump knows it, everyone knows it: Europe’s leaders were wrong on migration. Meanwhile, Hungary’s borders are secure, crime rates are low, illegal migration is at 0️⃣. We’re going to keep it that way. pic.twitter.com/mC2rVUigZw
— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) November 7, 2025
Responding to a question,
Viktor Orbán described the agreement concluded by the European Union with the United States on customs matters as substandard, shameful and appalling.
Budapest and several other major European capitals could have put much better proposals on the table and achieved a better agreement than the one negotiated by the Brussels bureaucracy, he said. He believed that coordinating interests requires a certain amount of intellectual and political effort, which Europe is not doing well. “The Americans are essentially bulldozing us,” he noted.
He emphasized that he had made it clear to the American president that he would never ask anyone for outside help to settle disputes within the European Union. We are strong enough, our positions are good enough, and we have sufficient tools at our disposal to win these battles on our own, he added.
Cover photo: In a photo released by the Prime Minister’s Communications Department, US President Donald Trump (r) and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán hold a press conference at the White House in Washington on November 7, 2025. Photo: MTI/Prime Minister’s Communications Department/Zoltán Fischer
