The U.S. president told Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán that he is “looking at” absolving the Central European nation from sanctions.
President Donald Trump said his administration is “looking at” giving Hungary an exemption from U.S. sanctions on buying Russian oil.
“Sure, we’re looking at it, because it’s very difficult for [Hungary] to get the oil and gas from other areas,” Trump said Friday during a meeting at the White House with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. “They don’t have the advantage of having sea … They don’t have the ports. They have a difficult problem.”
The conservative Hungarian leader is looking to convince Trump during his visit to spare Budapest from sanctions imposed on two Russian oil companies, which Orbán has called a “mistake.”
The U.S. sanctions on Russian oil are designed to cut off the flow of money Russia earns from energy exports, a major source of funding for its war in Ukraine. Trump last month announced new sanctions targeting two of Russia’s largest oil companies — Rosneft and Lukoil — and many of their subsidiaries, after Russia failed to commit seriously to a peace process, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at the time.
It came after months of pressure on the administration from Congress to impose tougher sanctions on Russia’s oil and energy sector.
Orbán has been one the most outspoken European leaders against the sanctions, arguing that sanctions would cripple his country’s energy capacities. Hungary relies on Russian oil for 86 percent of its supply, a number that has grown since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“That will be one of the issues [discussed] today,” Orbán told reporters. “To explain clearly what will be the consequences for the Hungarian people and Hungarian economy not to get oil and gas from Russia, because we are supplied by pipelines. Pipelines are not an ideological or political issue. It’s a physical reality … We will negotiate on that point. It’s vital.”
The Trump-Orbán meeting is the first time the president has invited the Hungarian leader to the White House in his second term. And Orbán is coming with sweeteners — for example an offer of buying U.S. nuclear fuel and technology, according to Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.
Orbán has called the Washington visit the beginning of “phase two” of the country’s thawing of relations with the U.S. He has blamed the Biden administration for “politically motivated sanctions,” likely referring to the U.S. Treasury slapping sanctions on his top aide, Antal Rogan with allegations of corruption.
Orbán described the U.S. and Hungary as the only “pro-peace” governments working to end the Russia-Ukraine war, and that other European nations are “misunderstanding” conflict when they argue Ukraine can win on the front line. Trump asked his counterpart whether he thinks Ukraine can win the war, to which Orbán responded, “Miracle[s] can happen.”
Like Russia, Orbán is a fierce opponent of Ukraine joining European alliances. He’s said he would veto Ukraine joining the European Union and decried the possibility of the war-torn country being a part of NATO.
Last month, Orbán was given the coveted status of potentially hosting a peace summit in Budapest with Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Ukraine, before the plan quickly disintegrated.
But the summit with Putin still seemed to be on Trump’s mind during Friday’s meeting. “If we have it, I’d like to do it in Budapest,” the president said.
The warm relationship — and Trump’s offer to host the summit in Hungary — is in part due to Orbán’s unrelenting support for the president. He was an ally when Trump was out of power and visited him at Mar-a-Lago, and is leading a conservative, anti-immigration and natalist government that MAGA world wants to emulate.