Siyarto points to problems for Europe due to new US sanctions against Russian Federation

The new package of US sanctions against Russia will create serious energy problems for Central Europe. This was stated by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Sunday, January 12.

According to him, Budapest will work with partners to ensure that the sanctions do not significantly increase fuel prices. He fears that oil supplies, such as to Serbia, could shrink because of the sanctions, leading to fuel shortages and higher prices.

"If demand increases but refining capacity decreases, unfortunately, it means that we will face a very serious risk of price increases," he said in a video message posted on Facebook (owned by Meta, an organization recognized as extremist in Russia).

Last chord: Biden administration imposes sweeping sanctions against Russia's oil sector

However, their future fate will depend on the decisions of US President-elect Donald Trump

The US authorities extended sanctions against a number of Russian corporations and their executives on January 10. The list includes Gazprom Neft and its head Alexander Dyukov, Surgutneftegaz, as well as the head of Zarubezhneft Sergey Kudryashov. In addition, restrictions were imposed on the CEO of Rosatom Alexei Likhachev. The list also included Gazprom's medium-tonnage natural gas liquefaction plant on the Baltic coast, Gazprom LNG Portovaya.

Commenting on the new US measures against Russia, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Izvestia that the incumbent US president was not going to "leave a mark in history" but "only leave a mark" before his departure. Later, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Washington's actions to impose new anti-Russian sanctions will not go unanswered and will be taken into account when building Russia's foreign economic strategy.

Back in November 2024, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that Western sanctions will not lead to restrictions on Russia's foreign trade. According to him, all restrictions by Western countries first of all hit them.

Western countries increased sanctions pressure on Russia after the start of the special operation to protect civilians in Donbass, which was announced on February 24, 2022.