Orban to Meet Trump to Discuss U.S. Sanctions on Russian Oil

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced that he will meet with the U.S. President Donald Trump in the nearest future to discuss the impact on Hungary of the American sanctions on Russian oil.

The Gaze reports on it, referring to Bloomberg.

“I will be in Washington soon to discuss this with President Trump. We will try to find a solution, especially for Hungary,” Orbán said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica during a visit to Rome.

Hungary is heavily dependent on Russian oil and gas and, unlike many of its EU neighbors who have tried to reduce their dependence on Russian energy, has even increased its imports of crude oil from Moscow since 2022. 

This dependence could threaten the country's energy security after the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia's largest oil companies and the EU announced a ban on transactions with Rosneft and Gazprom Neft and imports of LNG from 2027.

Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that the meeting between Trump and Orbán is scheduled for the second half of next week, without specifying the exact date. 

The Hungarian government is trying to convince the U.S. that a landlocked country has no choice but to rely on Russian oil. At the same time, Trump has been acknowledging the Hungarian leader's arguments in recent weeks.

As The Gaze informed earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that his government is looking for ways to circumvent new U.S. sanctions against Russian oil companies.