Kremlin Hotline: Hungary colluded with Russia to delist sanctioned oligarchs, companies and banks

A joint investigation by VSquare and partners alleges that Péter Szijjártó secretly coordinated with Sergei Lavrov to weaken EU sanctions on Russia. Leaked calls reportedly show the Hungarian minister promising to help remove sanctioned figures from the EU blacklist. The recordings suggest Budapest also shared confidential details of EU diplomatic discussions with Moscow. Investigators say Hungary and Slovakia repeatedly used the EU’s unanimity rules to push for delistings and dilute sanctions packages. The report claims Szijjártó sought Russian arguments to help block measures targeting banks, oil traders and Russia’s “shadow fleet”. Hungary’s government dismisses the allegations as propaganda and denies wrongdoing. The findings land amid a tight election campaign for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.