Whitaker: USA Expects Hungary and Slovakia to Prepare Russian Oil Shutdown Plan

Budapest, 27 October (TASR-correspondent) - The United States expects countries that buy Russian oil and gas, including Hungary, Slovakia and Turkey, to develop and implement a plan to gradually phase out Russian energy supplies, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker has said in an interview for Fox News TV, reports the TASR correspondent in Budapest based on a story published on the hvg.hu website on Monday. Whitaker noted that unlike neighbouring countries, Hungary "hasn't made any plans or taken any active steps in this direction". The US ambassador to NATO also noted that the USA will continue to work with the countries concerned and their neighbours, such as Croatia, which can help them in this process. President Donald Trump, he said, has all the trump cards and Russia looks weak. "They should stop the war, the killing, they're not gaining territory, they're losing every week on the battlefield against Ukraine," stressed Whitaker. The website points out that the United States last Wednesday (22 October) imposed sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the sanctions were necessary because Moscow wasn't committed to the peace process, and he called on Russia to "stop the killing" and agree to an immediate ceasefire. am/df