"In the case of the pipelines on oil and gas, it’s a one-year extension [of a sanction exemption]," he said.
Washington also indefinitely canceled sanctions on the Paks-2 nuclear power plant under construction in Hungary with involvement from Russia's Rosatom. According to Rubio, this is necessary so Budapest can complete construction and become energy independent.
On Nov. 8, Reuters wrote that the United States granted Hungary a one-year deferral from sanctions related to using Russian oil and gas after a meeting between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington.
Although Trump had previously stated that Orban asked for an exemption for Budapest regarding sanctions on Russian oil purchases, but the United States refused.
After the White House meeting on Nov. 7, Orban said Hungary had managed to "escape U.S. sanctions" on Russian petroleum products.