Orbàn and Putin end 2.5 hours of talks in the Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbàn held a two-and-a-half hour meeting in the Kremlin on Friday.

Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said many issues had been discussed in what he said was a very good atmosphere – above all Ukraine.

Putin recently made a proposal for ending the war against Ukraine that he launched more than two years ago, although he made it conditional on Ukraine agreeing to territorial concessions in advance. Putin said he wanted to inform Orbàn about the details of his ideas.

Despite the Russian invasion, Orbàn continues to maintain good relations with the Kremlin leader, and Hungary is still supplied with gas by Russia. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that Orbàn had travelled to Russia on his own initiative. Putin repeatedly praised Orbàn for standing up for his country’s interests and not allowing himself to be dictated to.

Hungary currently holds the rotating EU presidency, but top EU officials said Orbàn had no mandate to speak on behalf of the European Union during his trip to Moscow. He visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev earlier this week for the first time since the start of the war.

Ushakov said that Orbàn had been received as Hungary’s head of government and not as an EU representative. Putin, on the other hand, explicitly referred to Hungary’s EU position when welcoming Orbàn.

According to Russian officials, Orbàn had no message from Zelensky for Putin.