Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow later today to discuss supplies of crude oil and natural gas to Hungary, as well as efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Despite the ongoing war in neighboring Ukraine, Orban maintains close relations with the Kremlin, and Hungary remains heavily dependent on Russian energy resources, despite the European Union's policy of limiting this dependence.
The prime minister announced his upcoming visit in a post on “Facebook“, emphasizing: “I am going to Moscow to ensure that energy supplies to Hungary will be secure this winter and next year“. When asked if the topic of a peace agreement in Ukraine would be on the agenda, Orban said it was difficult to avoid.
Earlier this month, the United States granted Budapest an exemption from sanctions for using Russian oil and gas after Orban requested a deferral during a meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House.
In parallel, Hungary signed a nuclear energy cooperation agreement with the United States, which provides for the purchase of American nuclear fuel and technologies for storing spent fuel at the Paks-1 nuclear power plant. At the same time, the Russian state corporation Rosatom is building two new reactors at the plant under a 2014 project that has been significantly delayed.
Orban has repeatedly stated that he wants to revive the idea of a "peace summit" in Budapest between Trump and Putin on the issue of Ukraine, but plans for a similar forum earlier this month fell through.
Unlike most leaders of NATO and European Union countries, the Hungarian prime minister maintains close ties with Moscow and often questions Western military aid to Kiev.
According to data from the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, the country has imported 8.5 million tons of crude oil and more than 7 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia this year.