Russian Sanctions Risk Straining Trump’s Chummy Relationship With Hungarian Leader

On the surface, the meeting on Friday between President Trump and Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary promises to be a mutual admiration summit between two leaders who have found common ground over their differences with European allies on Russia’s war in Ukraine.

But U.S. sanctions imposed last month on Russia’s two largest energy companies over the war are a sticking point. Hungary gets much of its energy from Russia and Mr. Orban says that the penalties are threatening his country’s sluggish economy as he faces one of the toughest re-election battles of his career.

Mr. Orban’s meeting with Mr. Trump in Washington will test his foreign policy prowess, something the Hungarian leader has tried to highlight as a strength in his campaign.

He has openly sympathized with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and, like Mr. Trump, he has broken with much of Europe by calling on Ukraine to cede more land to Russia to secure a cease-fire.

Since Mr. Trump’s re-election, “Hungarian–American relations have skyrocketed,” Mr. Orban said in a statement on social media. “Every door in Washington has opened again to Hungary.”

Mr. Orban also took a swipe at one of Mr. Trump’s political enemies before leaving Budapest, saying that the two leaders had “repaired the damage Hungary and Hungarian-American relations suffered under the Biden administration.”