Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is expected to visit the White House on Friday, where he will seek support for hosting a proposed summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of efforts he claims could help end the war in Ukraine.

Orbán has suggested Budapest as the venue for the meeting. His advisors say he will also request an exemption from US sanctions targeting Russian energy supplies, amid Hungary’s ongoing reliance on Russian gas. The discussions will be a key test of Trump’s stated harder approach toward Moscow, after he publicly accused Putin of stalling negotiations to end the war.

Domestic politics also shaping Orbán's priorities

However, insiders say Orbán's most pressing goal is securing a future visit by Trump to Hungary ahead of parliamentary elections in April. Orbán faces a growing domestic challenge from a new opposition leader, and a visit from Trump would be used to reinforce his position and consolidate support among his conservative voter base.

“Orbán wants Trump to come to Budapest before the elections,” said a source from a Hungarian government-linked foreign policy institution. “This is a top priority. They will discuss the Russian gas issue, but the thing Orbán cares about the most is the elections.”

Political analyst Zsuzsanna Végh of the German Marshall Fund said such a visit would be “a major political favor” for Orbán, noting that Trump has so far avoided attending major international events in Budapest, including high-profile CPAC gatherings.

Orbán positioning Hungary in global conservative networks

Long criticized by European officials as being too close to Moscow, Orbán has maintained strong ties with Trump since his first presidency and has sought to advance an international network of right-wing and conservative political alliances. Trump and members of his circle have repeatedly held up Hungary as a model of governance, referring to it as a “conservative Disneyland”.

Gergely Gulyás, Orbán’s chief of staff, said Friday’s meeting was an opportunity for both leaders “to determine the roadmap that could lead to a US-Russian meeting and, through that, to a Russian-Ukrainian peace agreement.”

A previous attempt to forge such talks reportedly collapsed after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov took a firm position during discussions with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 

Hungary planning anti-Ukraine bloc

Hungary is pushing to form a Ukraine-skeptic alliance within the European Union, seeking alignment with Czechia and Slovakia ahead of key European summits, according to a senior political advisor to Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

An October report by Politico stated that the plan aims to unite Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Czech politician Andrej Babis, and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico to coordinate positions on Ukraine-related policies and potentially hold joint strategy sessions before European Council meetings.

Though still informal, the emerging alliance could pose a challenge to EU efforts to keep funding Ukraine militarily and financially, particularly as divisions among member states are growing more visible.

Balazs Orban, the Hungarian premier’s political director, told POLITICO that he believes a coordinated bloc "will come" and "be more and more visible." He likened the effort to the previous coordination among Visegrad countries during the EU migration crisis, when Hungary, Poland, Czechia, and Slovakia jointly opposed migrant relocation schemes.