Russia’s President Vladimir Putin held talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Tuesday, which was a private session with the EU country’s leader.
Putin and Orbán met in Beijing ahead of the Belt and Road Initiative international forum to discuss Hungary’s access to Russian energy.
Hungary never wanted to confront Russia. Hungary always has been eager to expand contacts.
The Prime Minister stated that bilateral ties between Russia and Hungary had suffered due to EU sanctions.
While many Western leaders tend to avoid contact with Putin after the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022, Orban has shown a willingness to co-operate. He has also refused to supply Kyiv with weapons and has not authorised arms transfers across the Hungarian-Ukrainian border.
The meeting between the two leaders played into Putin’s hands, as the Russian President can now argue that unity within the EU over support for Ukraine is weakening. For Orbán, preserving relations is essential as Hungary is heavily dependent on Russia for natural gas, oil and nuclear fuel supplies.
Earlier in May, Budapest blocked a 500 million-euro ($526 million) EU military aid package to Kyiv and stated it would not favour the package until Ukraine listed a Hungarian bank as an international sponsor of the war.
Orbán pointed out that the planned expansion of Hungary’s only nuclear power plant is possible thanks to the support of the Russian state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom. The project will be financed by a 10 billion-euro ($10.5 billion) loan from a Russian state-owned bank.
The Prime Minister also repeated his long-standing call for a ceasefire and immediate peace talks in Ukraine on social media.
In Europe today, one question is on everyone’s mind: will there be a cease-fire in Ukraine. For us Hungarians, too, the most important thing is that the flood of refugees, the sanctions and the fighting in our neighboring country should end.
During his rare trip outside Russia, Putin will also hold a series of meetings with other leaders travelling to Beijing for the Belt and Road Forum. There, the Russian leader is also scheduled to hold talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić claimed on Tuesday that he had a brief meeting with Putin, which could also raise concerns in Europe. Earlier, Serbia rejected the imposition of EU sanctions against Moscow, while at the same time saying it respected Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Both China and Russia are supplying weapons to Serbian forces amid rising tensions around the former province of Kosovo.
