A consortium of investigative outlets reported that Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó discussed with Russia efforts to remove Kremlin-selected Russians from the list of EU sanctions, and described ways to resist new penalties on Moscow.
The group said it obtained and authenticated audio recordings and transcripts of calls involving Szijjártó, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other Russian officials.
'I am always at your disposal'
One of the most striking exchanges came shortly after Szijjártó returned to Budapest from a 2024 visit to St. Petersburg.
In that call, Lavrov asked him to help remove Gulbahor Ismailova, the sister of Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, from the EU sanctions list.
Szijjártó promised support, saying Hungary and Slovakia would ask the EU to take her off the list and would do everything possible to secure that outcome. She was later removed from the list.
The report says the two ministers then turned to criticism of the bloc and its leaders. At the end of the conversation, Szijjártó said: “I am always at your disposal.”
The wording is politically sensitive because Hungary is a member of both the European Union and NATO, while Russia is waging war of aggression against Ukraine and engaging in hybrid warfare against many of its EU neighbors.
The investigation also says Szijjártó has regularly shared with Lavrov details of high-level European diplomatic discussions.
In one conversation, he described an August 2024 meeting of the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council, including remarks by then Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, who argued that European purchases of Russian oil and gas were helping finance Moscow’s war.
In another call, with Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin, Szijjártó discussed Hungarian efforts to derail sanctions aimed at Russia’s “shadow fleet,” the report said, a term used for ships and related networks that help move Russian oil outside normal scrutiny and sanctions controls.
He also complained that the EU would not show Hungary documents linked to proposed sanctions on 2Rivers, a Dubai-based company trading in Russian oil.
The report says Szijjártó told Sorokin that Hungary and Slovakia had delayed action on the EU’s 18th sanctions package until they received an exception allowing them to keep buying Russian gas and oil.
He was also quoted as saying he was trying to remove as many Russian names as possible from the sanctions list.
After weeks of delay, on July 18, 2025, the EU adopted the 18th sanctions package, which included 2Rivers, causing it to enter into liquidation.
The report argues the calls amount to evidence that Moscow was directly encouraging Hungarian and Slovak efforts to weaken sanctions from inside the bloc.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, vsquare.org