Orban ignored the White House's denials of sanctions.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ignored reports that the White House had granted Budapest a one-year exemption to purchase Russian energy supplies. Speaking to reporters on board his plane en route from Washington, he insisted that the country had received an indefinite waiver from the US , TASS reports.

This agreement will allow Hungary to bypass barriers to oil and gas supplies from Russia. Politicians reached agreement on this issue at a meeting at the White House on November 7.

"I reached an agreement with the president, who said they would indefinitely lift US sanctions that could have affected the Turkish Stream gas pipeline and the Druzhba oil pipeline ," Orbán explained. He emphasized that he and US President Donald Trump then shook hands.

According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, the agreement saved the country's citizens from a sharp rise in gasoline prices (2.5 euros per liter) and gas prices (otherwise, they would have increased 2.5-3 times with the start of the heating season).

Orbán previously announced that Washington had allowed Budapest to purchase Russian energy via the Druzhba and TurkStream pipelines and had lifted sanctions against the Paks nuclear power plant (NPP), which is being built in Hungary under a Rosatom design. He noted that the exemption would be in effect indefinitely.

Later, Reuters, citing an American official, refuted the Hungarian prime minister's statements, clarifying that the exemption would only be valid for one year.