Phone tap of Lavrov and Szijjártó's conversations published

"Our mutual friend Alisher"

On August 30, 2024, just an hour after Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó returned to Budapest from St. Petersburg, his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov called him. Lavrov stated that after Szijjártó's visit, he was quoted in all Russian media.

"Did I say something wrong?" Szijjártó asked, alarmed.

"No, no, no. They just said that you are pragmatically fighting for the interests of your country."

As it immediately turned out, the sole reason for Lavrov's call was a request: the oligarch Alisher Usmanov wanted to achieve the exclusion of his sister Gulbakhor Ismailova from the EU sanctions lists, and Szijjártó promised to help.

"Listen, I'm calling you at Alisher's request, and he just asked me to remind you that you were dealing with his sister's issue," Lavrov began.

"Ah, Ms. Ismailova," Szijjártó immediately understood what was being discussed. "Yes, absolutely. The thing is, together with the Slovaks, we are submitting a proposal to the European Union for her exclusion from the list. We will submit it next week, and since a new review period will begin, this issue will be put on the agenda. We will do everything we can to have her removed from the list."

"Thank you very much, he will be very pleased!" Lavrov rejoiced.

Ismailova is one of Usmanov's two sisters. Both were sanctioned by the UK, USA, Ukraine, and Estonia, but the other sister, Saodat Narzieva, managed to have her name removed from the EU list in just five months, by September 2022.

Szijjártó did not deceive Lavrov: Hungary and Slovakia, at the meeting on the extension of sanctions, stated that they would not agree to an extension if a number of individuals, including Gulbakhor Ismailova, were not removed from the sanctions list.

As a result, EU sanctions were lifted from her in March 2025 (though Estonia immediately added her to its national sanctions list after that).

Usmanov was the main, but not the only, topic of that conversation between the ministers.

Both criticized Josep Borrell, then the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, whom Lavrov called his "biggest disappointment," and Szijjártó dismissively described as "European Biden."

Hungarian Kim Philby

This conversation is just one example in a series of phone calls in which the head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry provides all sorts of services to his Russian counterpart.

In addition to fulfilling specific tasks assigned to him, Szijjártó regularly informed Lavrov about the details of confidential negotiations among European diplomats.

For example, in the same phone conversation on August 30, 2024, immediately after discussing Ismailova's exclusion from the list, Szijjártó disclosed details of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting he had attended the day before.

"And it was crazy, you know, when Landsbergis said that we supply 12% of every missile and shell," Szijjártó told Lavrov, referring to then-Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, who claimed that Russia partially financed its war from profits on gas and oil sales to European buyers such as Hungary and Slovakia. He continued: "I said: my friend, you are wrong, because Europeans contribute much more... Not only Slovaks and we buy gas and oil from Russia, but all of you who buy it through India and Kazakhstan."

Landsbergis confirmed that Szijjártó quoted a dialogue that indeed took place between them:

"I can confirm that this is a real exchange of views during one of the Foreign Affairs Council meetings. It seems that all this time Putin had and still has a 'mole' at all official EU and NATO meetings.

If we want to maintain this practice of confidentiality, it would be worthwhile to prohibit Hungary from participating in such meetings. Every generation has its Kim Philby."

It should be noted that both Philby and Szijjártó received Russia's highest award for foreigners – the Order of Friendship.

The decree awarding Szijjártó was signed by Vladimir Putin, but the order was physically presented by Lavrov on December 30, 2021.

In another phone conversation, Szijjártó informed Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin that he was doing everything possible to block a crucial EU sanctions package targeting Russia's "shadow fleet." Szijjártó also proposed excluding Russian banks from the lists that the EU was preparing for restrictions.

In a conversation with Sorokin on June 30, 2025, Szijjártó complained that the EU refused to show him documents on sanctions against 2Rivers (a Dubai-based company trading Russian oil). "They say they don't see clear Hungarian interests, so Hungary cannot legally demand their exclusion from the list," Szijjártó explained after Sorokin asked why Budapest had been excluded from the process.

According to EU data, 2Rivers (formerly known as Coral Energy) was one of the key players in selling Russian oil through its own "shadow fleet" of tankers and in concealing the origin of raw materials from the US-sanctioned Russian state giant Rosneft. 2Rivers then sells oil at a price above the international cap, providing Russia's military-industrial complex with vital revenue. In December 2024, the UK sanctioned 2Rivers and its trading network.

After reporting the failure in negotiations with 2Rivers, Szijjártó shared details with Sorokin about the progress of negotiations on the 18th EU sanctions package.

The Hungarian minister explained that the vote is not yet on the agenda due to a postponement organized by Hungary and Slovakia.

This will continue until the EU agrees to make an exception for these countries and allow them to continue purchasing Russian gas and oil.

Despite Budapest's efforts, the 18th sanctions package was adopted on July 18, 2025. It struck a blow against Russia's "shadow fleet" and the 2Rivers company that Szijjártó tried to protect.

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