Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is set to meet US President Donald Trump next week. The meeting was confirmed by Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó on Monday, while Orbán himself referred to it, speaking to Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
Orbán’s visit to Washington, DC comes amid an extremely tense atmosphere. Two weeks ago, Trump announced a planned meeting in Budapest with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the war in Ukraine. Last week, however, the US president stated that the summit had been delayed due to what he described as Russia’s rigid position on agreeing to an immediate ceasefire along the current line of contact. On the same day, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two of Russia’s largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil.
Hungary remains one of the European Union’s largest importers of Russian oil, and Lukoil is a key supplier to the Hungarian market. According to Szijjártó, Orbán will discuss both the potential peace summit and the newly announced sanctions, among other issues.
During his visit to the Vatican on Monday, Orbán responded to a question from La Repubblica, saying that he would soon meet Trump ‘to resolve the issue of oil sanctions’. He noted that without Russian energy, Hungarian energy prices would ‘skyrocket’, adding that, from Budapest’s perspective, Trump’s decision had adverse implications. ‘We will try to find a way out, especially for Hungary,’ Orbán said.
The interview was quickly picked up by several Western mainstream outlets, many of which reported Orbán’s remarks without full context, implying that the prime minister had criticized Trump directly over the sanctions. Headlines suggested that ‘Orbán says Trump made a mistake with Russian sanctions’.
However, the prime minister’s political director, Balázs Orbán, subsequently released the full recorded exchange, making it clear that Viktor Orbán had not stated that Trump’s decision was a mistake. The full quotation reads:
‘What interests me most is how we can build a functional system for the Hungarian economy, as Hungary heavily depends on Russian oil and gas. Without them, prices would skyrocket, and serious supply shortages could emerge.’
La Repubblica, however, presented this as if Orbán had explicitly called Trump’s decision ‘a mistake’ and claimed he would seek to have the sanctions withdrawn. Neither statement was made. The newspaper substituted its own interpretation for a direct quotation.
Balázs Orbán concluded:
‘Next week in Washington, Viktor Orbán will represent Hungary’s continued commitment to efforts aimed at bringing the war to an end as soon as possible. We look forward to the talks with Donald Trump and support every joint initiative with the United States that serves the cause of peace.’
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