Putin tests Trump and Orbán's friendship
The United States is pressuring the European Union to abruptly cut off purchases of Russian gas and oil.
BrusselsIt turns out that Donald Trump has failed to end the war in Ukraine in a matter of hours, as he promised during the campaign, nor to curb the expansionism of the Russian regime. "The president Putin has disappointed me a lot.", acknowledged the US president a few weeks ago. The relationship between the two leaders has changed completely since the New York tycoon returned to the Oval Office, and now the White House is negotiating and coordinating with the European Union to finally stop importing Russian fossil fuels. US leader, Hungary's Viktor Orbán, who will host the meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest. Trump is willing to sanction Putin For the first time, it is already increasing diplomatic pressure against the Kremlin. And, most importantly, doing so jointly and in coordination with Brussels. However, behind this change of script by the White House there are very clear interests: for the European Union to abruptly cut off purchases of Russian gas and oil and, on the contrary, substantially increase the purchase of American fossil fuels. The trade agreement signed between both parties in the summer to end the tariff war already includes a commitment from the community club to buy energy products from the United States for a total value of 700 billion euros over three years.
In applying these sanctions, however, Washington now finds that, as usual, Orbán is opposed. Beyond the political ties with Moscow and Budapest, Hungary is completely dependent on Russian gas. The situation is the same with Robert Fico's Slovakia, which in recent years has also shifted toward pro-Russian and Eurosceptic positions. This is a measure that the European Commission must approve unanimously, and therefore, a single country can veto restrictions against Russia.
In this context, the big question in Brussels' corridors is to what extent Trump is willing to pressure Orbán to obtain joint sanctions against Putin. Within the European institutions, skepticism reigns about the pressure the United States could put on Budapest, and, for the moment, they note that the 19th package of EU sanctions against Russia does not include a ban on gas imports via pipeline, as Hungary and Slovakia do.
The Hungarian government, in fact, has already stated that it does not intend to stop importing Russian fossil fuels, and points out that it depends on Russia for energy and cannot find comparable suppliers, both in terms of reliability and price. "The Hungarian government represents the interests of the Hungarian people. Since there is no alternative to Russian energy purchases, Hungary will maintain current purchases," Hungarian Governance Minister Gergely Gulyás told reporters when asked about Trump's demands.
Orbán's exceptional treatment
The European Union is already negotiating the nineteenth package of sanctions against Russia and has ultimately approved the previous eighteen, despite initial reluctance and Orbán's electoral posturing. The Hungarian leader, through threats or granting a few exceptions, has always given his approval and, for example, along with Slovakia, they are the two countries excluded from the bans and reduction in imports of Russian-made fossil fuels.
Since the start of the war in February 2022, imports of all types of Russian gas into the EU have fallen substantially, from 45% of what it consumed in 2021 to 19% in 2024. The average for 2025 is 13%. Regarding oil, the share of global oil purchased by the European bloc was 27% at the beginning of 2022 and is now close to 3%. However, Hungary currently continues to purchase 65% of its oil and 85% of its gas from Russia, according to Hungarian data.
The European Union's intention is for member states to no longer import any Russian fossil fuels by 2027. Trump, however, is now in a hurry and wants to further shorten the deadlines, seeing the European bloc's nineteenth package of sanctions against the Kremlin as a guarantee that it will end up buying more gas and oil from the United States. In any case, it remains to be seen in the coming days how far he is willing to push Orbán to punish Putin. When asked if he has already spoken with the Hungarian leader about the matter, the US president always avoids the subject. "He's a friend of mine. I haven't spoken to him, but I think if I did, I'd stop buying, and maybe I will," Trump responded last time.