The Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, emerged victorious from the White House after securing an exemption from sanctions on imports of Russian oil that were designed to punish Moscow for the war in Ukraine.
The decision by Donald Trump undercuts his own efforts to make Russia engage seriously in peace talks by squeezing its main source of funding for the war effort.
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It marks a fresh setback for Ukraine and European leaders who have worked to persuade Trump to take a harder line against Vladimir Putin. And it demonstrates once again the importance of personal relations with Trump in shaping US foreign policy.
Orbán lavished Trump with praise during his visit to the White House on Friday saying there was "no question" the war in Ukraine would not have happened if he had been in office at the time. Trump, in turn, described Orbán as “a very special person” and “a great leader”.
With right-wing, populist agendas, the two leaders are natural allies, but Trump’s threats to impose secondary sanctions on countries that continue purchasing Russian oil put a strain on the relationship.
Orbán said that Hungary was not ready to abruptly stop its reliance on Moscow’s oil due to economic conditions and described Trump’s sanctions on Russia “a mistake”.
India and China, both major buyers of Russian crude, have scaled back purchases ahead of the imposition of US sanctions on 21 November.
Trump announced sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, last month after cancelling a planned summit with Putin in the Hungarian capital. Asked why he had called it off, Trump said during Orbán’s visit that Russia “doesn’t want to stop yet”, but didn’t rule out the possibility of meeting Putin in Budapest in future.
Hungary is the only EU member state to maintain warm relations with Putin and has blocked efforts to help Ukraine. It has also cultivated relations with Trump allies in Washington, who view Orbán’s brand of illiberal democracy as a model.
Speaking following the meeting, Trump expressed sympathy for Orbán’s position, suggesting it would be unfair to penalise Hungary for importing Russian energy when other European countries continue to do so.
The EU has significantly scaled back imports of Russian energy since the invasion of Ukraine, and is moving to phase them out entirely by 2028. But Russian gas still made up 19% of total pipeline gas and LNG imports to the EU last year.
Photograph by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images