Leaked calls have shown Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó promising his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, to delist sanctioned Russians by fighting EU sanctions alongside Slovakia.
In one of the calls, Szijjártó was also heard promising Pavel Sorokin, Russia’s deputy energy minister, to fight against EU sanctions while boasting of helping remove 72 out of 128 entities on the list – even going so far as to consult Sorokin on how best to frame the attempt as a fight for Hungarian interests.
Details of the calls were published by VSquare, a Central European investigative outlet. The calls and transcripts were obtained and confirmed by other investigative news outlets, including FRONTSTORY, Delfi Estonia, The Insider, and the Investigative Center of Ján Kuciak (ICJK).
The revelation came ahead of Budapest’s April 12 elections and after Hungarian opposition accused Szijjártó of passing sensitive EU meeting notes to Lavrov.
“I am always at your disposal”
On a call dated Aug. 30, 2024, just an hour after Szijjártó returned to Budapest from a visit to St. Petersburg, Lavrov could be heard asking Szijjártó for help delisting the sister of a Russian oligarch from EU sanctions.
“Look, I am calling on the request of Alisher and he just asked me to remind you that you were doing something about his sister,” Lavrov said, referring to Russian-Uzbekistani oligarch Alisher Usmanov and his sister Gulbahor Ismailova.
Szijjártó promised to fight against the sanctions, alongside Slovakia – which, like Hungary, has also fought for Russian energy despite EU bans – by submitting a proposal to the EU.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Szijjártó said. “The thing is the following, that together with the Slovaks we are submitting a proposal to the European Union to delist her. We will submit it next week and as the new review period is going to be started it’s gonna be put on the agenda and we will do our best in order to get her off.”
Before he hung up, Szijjártó told Lavrov, “I am always at your disposal,” after reminiscing about his trip to the new Gazprom headquarters in Russia.
Ismailova was eventually delisted from EU sanctions seven months after the call, alongside Russian businessman Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor and Russia’s sports minister, Mikhail Degtyaryov.
An unnamed EU diplomat told VSquare that Hungary often submits long lists of individuals for delisting, threatening to derail broader sanctions extensions until the names are eventually pared down to just a few.
Friendly chit-chats
Before the request, Lavrov was also heard telling Szijjártó he was making the rounds following his visit to St. Petersburg, to which Szijjártó reportedly asked “nervously” whether he “[said] something wrong.”
Lavrov then assured him by saying the Russian media portrayed him as someone “pragmatically fighting for the interests of [his] country.”
During the call, the two also bonded over their shared disdain for the EU, taking aim at former foreign policy high representative Josep Borrell. Lavrov remarked that Borrell had been more “reasonable” toward Moscow during his time as Spain’s foreign minister, quipping that the EU tends to override the national interests of its member states.
“So you cannot, you cannot name your country, but you must name your gender, right?” Lavrov asked.
“Every generation has a Kim Philby”
The call also confirmed earlier allegations by the Hungarian opposition that Szijjártó briefed Lavrov on EU meetings despite Budapest’s denials.
During the Aug. 30 call, Szijjártó also revealed details of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting just a day prior, details confirmed by Lithuania’s former foreign minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, whom Szijjártó referenced.
“And that was crazy, you know, when Landsbergis said that we contribute 12% of each rockets and missiles,” Szijjártó was heard telling Lavrov.
“I said, my friend, you are not right, because the Europeans contribute much more… it’s not only the Slovaks and us who are buying gas and oil from Russia directly but all of you who are buying the same from them through…India, Kazakhstan,” he added.
Landsbergis confirmed to VSquare that the exchange was real and described Szijjártó as a Russian mole.
“I can verify that this is a real exchange during one of the Foreign Affairs Councils. It seems that all this time [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin had, and still has, a mole in all European and NATO official meetings,” Landsbergis told the outlet.
“If the integrity of these meetings is to be maintained, it would be appropriate to ban Hungary from all of them. Every generation has a Kim Philby,” he added, referring to the British intelligence officer during the Cold War who worked as a double agent for the USSR.
Asking Russia for arguments to fight EU sanctions
On a June 30, 2025 call with Moscow’s deputy energy minister Sorokin, Szijjártó was also heard pushing back against EU energy sanctions on Sorokin’s behalf.
Sorokin asked why Budapest was kept out of the discussions on sanctions against 2River, a Dubai-based firm shipping sanctioned Russian oil, to which Szijjártó explained that the bloc ruled that it did not affect Hungarian interests, with Hungary being a landlocked country.
“[B]ecause they say that there is no clear Hungarian interest that they can identify, and therefore Hungary cannot legally ask them to be removed from the list,” Szijjártó said.
Szijjártó also briefed Sorokin on the EU’s 18th sanctions package, saying Budapest and Bratislava have managed to stall it until the bloc “[allows] us to continue buying Russian gas and oil.”
Szijjártó then told Sorokin he was working to block the entire sanctions package, boasting he had already managed to strike off dozens of entities – before asking Sorokin for advice on how to build a case to persuade the EU.
“I’m doing my best to have it repealed. The thing is that I have already removed 72 [entities] from the list, but there were 128. I’m trying to continue, but I have to say that this is in the interest of Hungary,” he said.
“If they [Sorokin’s staff] can help me identify the direct and negative effects on Hungary, I would be very grateful,” he added, “because if I can show something like that, you would give me a completely different opportunity.”
Diplomatic standoff with Kyiv
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, endorsed by US President Donald Trump in the upcoming elections, has long been criticized for his ties to the Kremlin.
Orban – whose ruling party is now falling behind the opposition in polls – has echoed Kremlin narratives, blaming Ukraine for the war, insisting Russian energy is vital for Hungary’s survival, and claiming that support for Kyiv would drag Europe into war – the latter a central campaign theme ahead of the upcoming elections.
Budapest has also been in a diplomatic standoff with Kyiv over the transit of Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline – vetoing a vital €90 billion ($104 billion) EU loan for Kyiv at the last minute, while Kyiv said the pipeline was damaged by Russian strikes.
Days after Szijjártó’s meeting with Putin in Moscow, Budapest also seized two armored trucks operated by Ukraine’s state-owned Oshadbank, which were transiting Hungary while transporting cash between Ukraine and Austria.
While Hungary’s opposition has vowed to rid Budapest of Russian influence, it shares the Orbán administration’s stance on migration and EU enlargement, and has opposed fast-tracking Ukraine’s accession to the bloc. Unnamed EU diplomats remain skeptical that an opposition victory would bring a substantive shift, suggesting any change would be more in tone than in policy.