Hungarian leader Viktor Orban to meet US President Donald Trump

Hungary’s nationalist prime minister will seek permission to buy Russian oil despite US sanctions.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is scheduled to meet United States President Donald Trump at the White House, where he is expected to seek a waiver on US sanctions on the purchase of Russian oil.

In a state radio interview released on Friday, the right-wing nationalist and longtime Trump ally said it was necessary to “achieve results” given Russia’s central role in providing Hungary with oil and gas.

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“Hungary depends very much on Russian oil and gas,” Orban said during a recent interview with the Italian publication La Repubblica. “Without them, energy prices will skyrocket, causing shortages in our reserves.”

The meeting will test whether Orban’s close relationship with Trump will be enough to secure exemptions to expanding US sanctions targeting the Russian energy sector, a form of pressure meant to push Moscow towards negotiating an end to its war in Ukraine.

“President Trump and Prime Minister Orban have a long, positive relationship – they are very friendly with each other,” James Bachik, an analyst at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center, told Al Jazeera.

“We’ll see what sort of exemptions he might get. Donald Trump does have that personal relationship. He’s even empathised in the past with Hungary’s position on their dependence on Russian energy,” he added. “But the question is, will Hungary bring enough to the table to get that exemption?”

Other countries, including US allies such as India, which had previously bought Russian oil with little protest from Washington, have scrambled to respond to the abrupt change in US policy that threatens to impose punitive sanctions and restrict access to Russian oil.

Among European leaders, Orban is also considered more sympathetic towards Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Hungary has often been an obstacle towards European Union efforts to step up pressure on Russia.

The ideological affinity between Trump and Orban, both far-right leaders who have pushed a hardline vision of immigration restriction and sought to crack down on political opposition, could help Orban secure relief from potential sanctions.

“If there has ever been a golden age in Hungarian-American relations, it is now,” Orban said in a recent social media post. “We stand together on the key issues of our time: war and peace, migration, and the protection of family values.”

But US tariffs on the EU have had a negative impact on Hungary’s economy. Concessions on the purchase of Russian oil could hand Orban a victory and boost his political standing at home. Trump has frequently used US leverage to assist political allies in other countries.