Trump and Orbán Meet at White House to Seek Hungary Exemption from Russia Oil Sanctions

US President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the White House on November 7 to discuss Hungary’s request for exemptions from US sanctions on Russian oil and a possible roadmap toward a US–Russia meeting on the war in Ukraine, according to Reuters on November 7. 

Hungary’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, said the agenda includes setting “the roadmap that could lead to a US–Russian meeting and, through that, to a Russian–Ukrainian peace agreement,” adding that agreements in energy, defense industry, economy, and finance are also in view. 

Orbán has said he will ask for an exemption from US measures targeting Russian oil companies due to Hungary’s dependence on pipeline supplies, stating:

“Hungary is a landlocked country…” Orban said, “We are dependent on those transport routes through which energy can reach Hungary… We have to make the Americans understand this peculiar situation … if we want them to allow exemptions from the American sanctions against Russia.”

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He described the talks as “friendly and easy,” saying, “I know the President, he knows me, we know the subject, we simply have to reach an agreement.” 

The context for Budapest’s request is the US decision on October 22 to sanction Russia’s top oil firms, Rosneft and Lukoil, with the Treasury stating that the steps aimed to press Moscow toward a ceasefire.

Trump said then he had canceled a planned summit in Hungary with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin because it was not the right time.

Orbán subsequently told state radio, “We are working on how to circumvent this sanction,” referring to the new measures. 

Friday’s encounter will be Orbán’s first bilateral meeting with Trump since his return to the White House earlier this year, with energy ties and Hungary’s continued reliance on Russian supplies central to the discussions, Reuters reported. 

Earlier, it was reported that Viktor Orbán of Hungary planned a visit to Washington to discuss relief from US sanctions on Russian oil.

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