President Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban meet Friday in Washington, a cordial encounter shadowed by fresh U.S. sanctions on Russia’s energy giants. Hungary relies heavily on Russian oil—86 percent of imports—and Orban warns the penalties threaten a sluggish economy as he heads into a hard re-election fight. He seeks an exemption, but one analyst says the sanctions give Trump leverage to push Europe, and Orban, on Western assistance to Ukraine and EU membership talks that Orban opposes. Trump has eased some Biden-era measures on Hungary, though key restrictions remain.

Prepared by Lauren Mitchell and reviewed by editorial team.