On December 4th local time, Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjarto stated in Brussels that the Hungarian government has submitted an exemption application to the United States to allow it to continue paying natural gas fees to Russia. Szijjarto stated that the latest US sanctions have brought serious difficulties to Hungary and the region, and terminating Russian natural gas imports would result in affected countries being unable to obtain natural gas supply. Szijjarto mentioned that granting sanctions exemptions is not unprecedented. Several Russian banks in the US also have similar exemptions because the US needs to import uranium from Russia, and uranium is essential for nuclear power plant operation. (CCTV)