Moscow’s reentry into Western energy and security systems will deliver “massive” benefits, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said
Russia will be “reintegrated” into the world economy and the European energy system once a peace agreement is reached and the Ukraine conflict ends, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Kossuth Radio on Friday.
The US and its allies have slapped numerous rounds of sanctions on Russia since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022 in a bid to isolate the country, cutting it off from the Western financial system and freezing its foreign reserves.
Following the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline in September 2022, many member states committed to buying liquified natural gas (LNG) from the US, which according to estimates published by Moscow’s Energy Ministry, is 30-40% more expensive.
Budapest, however, has maintained ties with Russia despite the restrictions. During his regular Friday interview with the public radio broadcaster, Orban noted that talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the chances that the crisis would be resolved.
“If I were to comment on it in one word, I would say ‘Hallelujah.’ That’s what we’ve been waiting for,” he said.
Orban’s remarks come shortly after US President Donald Trump had a phone talk with Putin, during which they agreed to begin negotiations to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
“If the US president comes and creates peace, there is a deal, I think Russia will be reintegrated into the world economy … the European security system and even the European economic and energy system, that will give a huge boost to the Hungarian economy,” Orban said.
The Hungarian leader has been a vocal critic of sanctions against Moscow and the financial and military assistance that the West has provided Kiev. Orban reiterated that Hungary has long called for the removal of sanctions against Russia, arguing that they weaken the EU economy and drive up energy prices.
Orban said reintegrating Russia into the global economy and the EU’s security and energy systems would create “a massive opportunity” for Hungary. His government has continued to cooperate with Moscow on fuel-related issues, securing long-term agreements for the import of natural gas.
Moscow has long condemned Western sanctions as illegal, repeatedly arguing that they have failed to destabilize Russia’s economy or isolate it from the global financial system.
A number of Western officials have admitted that they have backfired, triggering economic turmoil in the EU. Last month, Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of Germany’s left-wing BSW party, warned that the sanctions are “killing” her country’s businesses while benefiting the US economy.
Austrian MP Axel Kassegger, whose country remains 80% dependent on Russian gas, cautioned last year that cutting energy ties with Moscow would cause gas prices to surge severalfold and send inflation skyrocketing. Similarly, former German MP Gunnar Beck noted that the economic fallout from sanctions has hit the EU far harder than Moscow.
