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Slovnaft is analyzing the impact of sanctions.

BUDAPEST, BRATISLAVA. On Wednesday evening, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó criticized European politicians for being pro-war and trying to undermine US President Donald Trump's peace efforts in the long term.

Even after meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, he insisted that the plan for a peace summit in Budapest had not been completely rejected.

But Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he was canceling a summit with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin because he “doesn’t feel like they’re getting where they want to go.” Hours later, he signed sanctions targeting Russia’s energy sector, particularly oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil, the first major move by the Trump administration that could hurt the Russian economy.

However, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is also having problems – not only did he fail in his efforts to organize a key peace summit in Budapest, but he now also has to deal with how to circumvent US anti-Russian sanctions. These could particularly affect the Hungarian energy company MOL, which also owns Slovnaft.

After the peacekeeping mission, sanctions

Two marches were held in Budapest on Thursday to mark the anniversary of the Hungarian revolution against Soviet occupation in 1956 – one pro-government, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and one anti-government, led by the leader of the opposition TISZA party and Orbán’s rival Péter Magyar. According to sociologists, Viktor Orbán’s “peace march” was attended by about 90,000 people, while the opposition march was supported by more than 160,000 participants.

Experts also consider the marches to be the official start of the election campaign in Hungary - according to polls, TISZA is significantly ahead of the ruling Fidesz party, with elections taking place in April.

On stage in front of his supporters, Viktor Orbán also talked a lot about Ukraine and Donald Trump."If Brussels had not obstructed the US president's peacekeeping mission, the war would have already ended," he said.

On Friday, Kossuth admitted on the radio that he is currently working on how to circumvent Trump's sanctions against Russian oil companies."I started several consultations with MOL representatives this week and we are working on how to circumvent these sanctions. Anyone who wants lower energy prices must defend Hungary's right to buy oil and gas from Russia," he said.

The US sanctions freeze all assets of Rosneft and Lukoil in the United States and prohibit all American companies from doing business with them. Although the details of the sanctions have not yet been released by the White House, they are set to take effect on November 21.

Theoretically, there is a risk that Russian companies will have to sell their assets abroad and also end oil supplies to Europe, as they will have difficulty making payments in dollars.

“This is a significant step that will force European countries and companies that continue to import energy to reevaluate those deals by November 21, when the sanctions go into effect,” Kimberly Donovan, a sanctions expert at the Atlantic Council think tank, told Politico. It could make it harder for Russian companies to export to countries with close ties to the United States.