US President Donald Trump told Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Friday that he would consider exempting the ally from sanctions on Russian oil purchases.

"We are looking at it because it is very difficult for him to get the oil and gas from other areas. As you know they don't have the advantage of having sea," Trump told reporters as he met Orban at the White House.

Orban, a right-wing nationalist who has often bucked the rest of the European Union on pressuring Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, said that Russian energy was vital for his country.

Orban said he would explain to Trump"what would be the consequences for the Hungarian people and for the Hungarian economy not to get oil and gas from Russia."

"Because we are supplied by pipelines. Pipeline is not an ideological or political issue. It's a physical reality because we don't have port(s)," Orban said.