Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban held bilateral talks with Vladimir Putin in Beijing, the Hungarian politician’s spokesman said. “Hungary has never been interested in a confrontation with Russia,” Orbán said, quoted by Reuters.
Hungary has never been interested in confrontation with Russia, but in establishing close relations
— Orban said during a meeting with Putin.
We are trying to salvage bilateral contacts in the face of broader international tensions
– added the politician.
Hungarian-Russian cooperation
According to the Prime Minister’s press spokesman, Bertalan Havasi, the politicians discussed, among other things: Hungarian-Russian cooperation in the field of gas and oil supplies and nuclear energy.
For the entire continent, including Hungary, it is crucial to put an end to the flow of refugees, the sanctions and the fighting
– said Orbán.
Despite the fact that in the current geopolitical conditions the possibilities for maintaining contacts and developing relations are very limited, we can only be satisfied that our relations with many European countries are being maintained and developed. One of these countries is Hungary
Putin said this, quoted by Reuters.
Hungary does not boycott
The Hungarian prime minister is the only EU politician at the Belt and Road Forum taking place in Beijing on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the only one who has decided to meet Putin, who is being prosecuted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Hungarian politicians regularly meet politicians from Russia and Belarus. At the end of this week, the head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, Peter Szijjarto, went to Moscow for an energy summit for the fifth time since the invasion of Ukraine.
In turn, Szijjarto met again with Lavrov in mid-September, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York, encouraging his Western counterparts to do the same.
The last time Orban met Putin was on February 1, 2022, three weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, neither Orban nor Szijjarto have visited Kiev since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
READ MORE: REPORT. 601st day of war. The Ukrainian army fired on airfields near occupied Luhansk and Berdyansk
edy/PAP
Source: wPolityce