Budapest, 16 February 2026 (dpa/MIA) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Budapest on Monday.

According to the US State Department, Rubio's brief visit to Budapest will focus on the energy partnership between the two countries. Hungary sources almost all of its natural gas from Russia.

Washington is pushing for Hungary to purchase US liquefied natural gas on a large scale in the future.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó emphasized in advance that the talks with Rubio would also focus on ways to end Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, as he told Hungarian state radio.

Bilateral relations with the United States are currently experiencing a "golden age" since US President Donald Trump took office, Szijjártó added.

The reason for this, he said, was that Washington had allowed Hungary to import oil from Russia despite sanctions and had also exempted the planned Russian investment in the Hungarian nuclear power plant in Paks from sanctions.

Orbán and his government have maintained good relations with the Kremlin and Trump for years.

Photo: dpa