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FM Szijjártó: US-Russia agreement bans strikes on energy infrastructure supplying Hungary
The agreement between the United States and Russia, which bans strikes on infrastructure delivering energy to Hungary, is in line with Hungary’s national interests, as it reduces risks to energy security, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in Moscow on Wednesday.
The most important question now from Hungary’s perspective is when the war in Ukraine will end and when peace will return to central Europe, Szijjártó said after talks with Russian Deputy Prime Ministers Alexander Novak and Denis Manturov, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov and Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev, according to a ministry statement.
Szijjártó said talks were progressing well, and welcomed that the US and Russia have agreed to halt strikes on each other’s energy infrastructure. Noting that Hungary imports both crude oil and natural gas from Russia, Szijjártó said Ukraine had recently attacked the infrastructure delivering energy to Hungary on multiple occasions, causing a suspension of oil deliveries.
The minister also welcomed a five-point list covering the infrastructure that falls under the 30-day ceasefire, which includes the oil and gas pipelines linking Russia and Hungary. Szijjártó expressed hope that this was only a “partial result” and that the peace talks would be successful. He said that because Russia also had an interest in the talks being successful, there was now “greater hope than ever” for a sustainable ceasefire and a peace agreement.
Meanwhile, the minister said Hungary and Russia have agreed to intensify bilateral cooperation, “which is clearly in our interest given that the country’s energy security depends greatly on Moscow”. He noted that Hungary last year imported record volumes of natural gas from Russia, adding that daily gas deliveries exceed 20 million cubic metres this year. Crude oil imports have already exceeded 1.25 tonnes this year, he said.
Szijjártó also said his negotiating partners had assured him that Russia would continue to meet all of its obligations concerning Hungary’s energy supply and that the energy supply remained secure. “Let’s be clear: Hungary’s energy supply would not be secure without Russian energy,” Szijjártó said.
Hungary and Russia, he said, have also agreed to boost economic cooperation in areas not affected by sanctions, allowing Hungarian businesses to play an even bigger role in Russia’s agriculture and pharmaceutical sectors. “We also welcomed oil and gas company MOL’s successful extraction activities in Russia, which provide a sufficient basis for MOL to increase its market presence in the future,” he added.
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