2024-07-05 16:28:25
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow tomorrow, Reuters reported, citing Radio Free Europe and the Financial Times.
Russian news agencies quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as neither confirming nor denying the possible visit. RIA Novosti quoted Peskov as saying that Putin “has a busy schedule” on Friday, about which the Kremlin would later inform the media.
This would be the first meeting between Putin and Orban in Russia since the crisis in Ukraine began. Orbán, who compared to other European leaders maintains close relations with Moscow, visited Russia in 2022 but did not meet its president then. After that, they met, but in other countries, BTA reported.
At the beginning of the month, Hungary took over the EU’s rotating presidency, a largely ceremonial role related to agenda-setting and agreement-making when legislation is passed, Reuters notes.
The Hungarian government did not respond to emailed questions for comment.
Earlier this week, Orban visited Kiev, where he urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to consider a truce to speed up the end of the war with Russia.
“The rotating presidency of the European Union does not have the authority to contact Russia on behalf of the EU,” European Council President Charles Michel said on his profile on the X social network, reacting to reports of Orbán’s visit to Moscow. “Without Ukraine itself, no discussions about Ukraine can be held,” he added.
Hungary, an EU and NATO member, has refused to send weapons to Ukraine and has criticized European Union sanctions against Russia.
While countries in Western Europe have made serious efforts to wean themselves off Russian gas since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, landlocked Hungary gets most of its crude from Russia. It signaled in June that it had no plans to stop importing natural gas from Russia and is seeking to deepen business ties with Moscow in unsanctioned areas.