Media: Hungarian PM to try and convince Trump to meet with Putin

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will use his visit to Washington to try to persuade US President Donald Trump to hold a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

As reported by The Guardian, according to insiders, Orbán's top priority during the visit is to invite Trump to Hungary.

His advisers believe that a visit by Trump would boost Orbán's image as a statesman and energise his conservative base.

"Orbán wants Trump to come to Budapest before the elections. This is a top priority. They will discuss the Russian gas issue, but the thing Orbán cares about the most is the elections," one source working in a Hungarian government foreign-policy body said.

Orbán's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, said the Friday meeting would be an "opportunity for the two heads of state to … determine the roadmap that could lead to a US-Russian meeting and, through that, to a Russian-Ukrainian peace agreement".

Trump has so far reconsidered meeting Putin in Budapest and admitted he is disappointed by the pace of negotiations with Russia.

Another key issue during Orbán's visit will be a US sanctions exemption for Hungary related to the Russian oil companies Rosneft and Lukoil.

Media outlets previously wrote that Hungary is preparing a large-scale energy proposal for the United States ahead of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's trip to Washington.