Viktor Orban will visit the White House on Friday as Hungary's far-right prime minister tries to broker another summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin that Orban's advisers claim could help end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Orban, who has proposed hosting the summit in Budapest, will also seek an exemption from US sanctions against Russian energy in what will be a major test of Trump's tougher line on the Kremlin after he accused Putin of slow-rolling negotiations to end the conflict.
Despite losing slivers of territory, Ukraine is confident about its long-term prospects in the war and its military and diplomatic successes against Russian energy will only strengthen that belief. The European Union is preparing to adopt a new round of sweeping sanctions against Russian energy exports on Thursday, a day after United States President Donald Trump imposed similar measures against Moscow amid setbacks to his efforts at diplomacy with Vladimir Putin.