At first glance, today’s meeting between President Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, scheduled for November 7, looks like a summit of mutual admiration between two leaders united by their frustration with European allies over the war in Ukraine.
However, a key sticking point is the U.S. sanctions imposed last month on two of Russia’s largest energy companies. Hungary remains heavily dependent on Russian supplies, and Orbán has said the restrictions are undermining his country’s already fragile economy ahead of what could be the toughest election of his political career.
The meeting with Trump in Washington will test Orbán’s foreign-policy skills—a trait he has long touted as one of his core strengths.
Orbán makes no secret of his sympathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin and, like Trump, argues that Ukraine should cede more territory to Moscow in exchange for a cease-fire.
“Since President Trump’s re-election, Hungarian-American relations have soared to new heights,” Orbán wrote on social media. “All the doors in Washington are open to Hungary once again.”
Before departing Budapest, Orbán also took aim at one of Trump’s political rivals, saying that both leaders had “restored relations between Hungary and the United States after the damage caused under the Biden administration.”
Trump has partially lifted the sanctions imposed by his predecessor in response to the Hungarian government’s authoritarian drift, though some restrictions remain, including the suspension of the bilateral tax treaty designed to prevent double taxation of income.
Orbán’s main concern, however, is the new sanctions announced by the United States last month to increase pressure on Putin to end the war in Ukraine. The prime minister hopes the president will exempt Hungary from their scope.
According to the Washington-based think tank Atlantic Council, 86 percent of Hungary’s oil imports come from Russia—a share that has grown since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.
Without an exemption, Hungary could face U.S. secondary sanctions, resulting in fines or restricted access to the American financial system. The country, an EU member and Putin’s closest ally within the bloc, has already been granted an exemption from the EU’s ban on Russian oil exports.
Just days before the U.S. sanctions were announced, Trump canceled a planned summit with Putin that was to take place in Budapest.
To obtain an exemption, Orbán may have to make concessions on another front.
“The sanctions give Trump leverage,” noted James Batchik, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center, in an analysis published this week.
Trump wants Europe to shoulder the bulk of Western support for Ukraine. The European Union has already agreed to open accession talks with Kyiv—an effort aimed at helping stabilize the Ukrainian economy.
Orbán, by contrast, opposes the move, arguing that EU expansion would “bring the war to Europe.”
In recent years, he has repeatedly diverged from the positions of the EU and NATO, refusing to approve arms deliveries or financial assistance to Ukraine—though at times stopping short of an outright veto.
According to Batchik, Orbán’s refusal to support Ukraine’s EU accession runs counter to Trump’s demand that Europe take a more active role in backing Kyiv.
“Despite Trump’s friendly ties with Orbán, it is the Hungarian leader who remains the main obstacle to the actions the United States is pressing Europe to take,” the analyst wrote.