President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban held an unannounced meeting at the Kremlin on Friday to discuss the future of several sanctioned Russian-owned refineries that have fueled growing concerns about fuel shortages across eastern Europe. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said after the talks that Hungary’s potential purchase of some of the assets was on the agenda, adding that negotiations would need to continue discreetly.
Opening the meeting, Putin stressed that the two countries maintain extensive cooperation in the energy sector but acknowledged that the situation surrounding the sanctioned refineries required detailed discussion. The issue has become increasingly urgent following supply disruptions and tightening sanctions affecting Russian-owned facilities in Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania.
Orban’s trip to Moscow followed a meeting a day earlier with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, during which he signaled that Hungary would be open to taking a stake in NIS, Serbia’s only refinery, which is controlled by Gazprom. The refinery has been forced to shut down due to U.S. sanctions linked to its Russian ownership, triggering fuel shortages in Serbia. Hungary, however, recently secured an exemption from U.S. oil sanctions following Orban’s Nov. 7 meeting with President Donald Trump.
The visit also coincided with renewed diplomatic efforts by Washington to broker a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. U.S. officials have been working from a 28-point plan developed with Russian input, and U.S. presidential envoy Steve Witkoff is expected in Moscow next week. Orban has attempted to position himself as a mediator in the nearly four-year-old conflict, though his “peace missions” have strained relations with EU partners. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized the Hungarian leader for traveling without EU coordination, noting that such unilateral diplomacy was “nothing new.”
During Friday’s three-and-a-half-hour meeting, Orban again proposed Hungary as a venue for potential peace talks, according to Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto. He added that Putin reaffirmed Russia’s commitment to continue supplying Hungary with natural gas and crude oil, and that the two sides agreed to proceed with the Russian-led expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant.
Orban, widely regarded as the most Kremlin-aligned leader in the European Union, is seeking to use his ties with Putin to acquire Russian energy assets under sanction. Potential targets include Lukoil refineries in Bulgaria and Romania as well as the Gazprom-owned NIS refinery in Serbia. Hungarian oil and gas company Mol Nyrt is already engaged in talks with Serbian authorities to help remove Gazprom from NIS’s ownership structure and restart fuel production. Analysts say that if Orban’s meeting with Putin yields concrete results, it could enable Mol to acquire a majority stake in the Serbian refinery.
While Hungary has received sanctions exemptions due to Orban’s close relationship with Trump, other countries have not been as fortunate. Bulgaria recently took control of Lukoil’s Neftohim refinery and its network of gas stations to secure supplies, while Romania is preparing legislation that would allow similar action if necessary. Serbia, meanwhile, has struggled to win a U.S. waiver, with Vucic wary of nationalizing NIS for fear of antagonizing Moscow.
Interest in the region’s sanctioned assets extends beyond Europe. Companies from the United Arab Emirates are reportedly in discussions with Russia over a potential purchase of Gazprom’s stake in NIS. For Lukoil’s Bulgarian operations, a consortium involving Azerbaijan’s state-owned SOCAR and Turkey’s Cengiz Holding had been seen as the preferred buyer before the latest wave of U.S. sanctions, though Mol has also submitted a bid.
Orban’s Moscow visit underscores his strategy of leveraging geopolitical ties to expand Hungary’s influence over regional energy infrastructure—an approach that continues to unsettle European partners even as it aligns closely with both Putin’s and Trump’s strategic interests.
