Hungary’s Orban ignores EU partners and meets Putin again in Moscow

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, days before Russia held talks on the U.S. push to end the war in Ukraine.

Orban, considered one of Putin’s closest allies in Europe, has been infuriating his NATO and EU allies by undermining solidarity against Russia.

“We know your balanced position on the situation in Ukraine,” Putin told Orban in a speech broadcast on Russian state television.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto later posted on social media that the Hungarians came to Moscow with the purpose of ensuring the supply of Russian oil and natural gas and agreeing to continue construction of the Parkes nuclear power plant.

In response to the news of Orban’s visit, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the EU’s largest member state, told reporters: “His actions were not authorized by the EU and he did not consult us, but this is nothing new.”

Referring to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Merz said of Orban: “He has his own ideas about ending this war. So far, those ideas have not come to fruition. If someone has a better idea than us, that is very welcome. Unfortunately, I just doubt that this time will be more successful than the last time.”

Putin thanked the Hungarian prime minister for proposing Budapest as a potential venue for a Russia-U.S. summit with President Donald Trump.

“Trump immediately said: ‘We have good relations with Hungary, you have good relations with Viktor, and so do I, so I suggested this option.’ Of course, we happily agreed,” Putin said.

According to Reuters, Orban told Putin that Hungary was “interested in peace,” adding: “Mr. President, our meeting today gives me the opportunity to confirm that Hungary is ready to provide a platform for such negotiations.”

However, the atmosphere at the delegation’s meeting in Moscow was surprisingly cold, with Orban at one point inadvertently bumping into his Russian hosts after shaking hands with other members of the Russian delegation.

An independent Hungarian media also said Putin’s words were mistranslated into Hungarian to sound more positive.

Plans for a Budapest “peace summit” were mooted last month but were shelved, reportedly because Russia refused to compromise on Putin’s top demands for an end to the war.

The Hungarian leader’s Fidesz party is due to hold parliamentary elections in April, with polls suggesting the party could be defeated at the ballot box for the first time in 15 years. It could help his re-election chances if he hosts a Trump-Putin summit in Budapest.

Orban, who last visited Moscow in July 2024, has repeatedly questioned the EU’s attempts to end European imports of Russian oil and gas.

He called Friday’s visit the second leg of a strategy to ensure Russia’s energy supply to Slovakia, Serbia and Hungary this winter.

Earlier this month, he secured an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian fuel in Washington – but only if he remains in power.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Orban has claimed to be on the side of peace, telling Hungarian state radio last week that “Europe has decided to launch a war against Ukraine.”

He strongly supports Trump’s 28-point peace plan to end the war, and in the frantic diplomacy that followed the plan’s emergence, Orban’s government and pro-Orban media accused EU leaders of “fomenting war” by trying to adjust the plan to take into account Ukraine’s objections.

Orban and Putin were joined at the Kremlin by key Russian officials, including Putin aide Yuri Ushakov, who is part of Russia’s negotiating team with the United States.

In a letter this week to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the Hungarian leader called for immediate, unconditional peace talks to allow the EU to launch direct talks with the Kremlin. He stressed his opposition to more EU funding for Ukraine and his refusal to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukrainian defense.

Now, with little sign that Russia is willing to compromise on Ukraine, Orban is focusing on Russian energy.

The deal he struck in Washington to buy U.S. liquefied natural gas and start buying U.S. nuclear fuel means Hungary will buy less of both fuels from Russia, potentially irritating his Russian hosts.

Orban believes that without an agreement with the United States and Russia, heating prices will triple next month.

Hungary is under pressure from the EU to stop importing all Russian energy by 2027 and is likely to use any deal struck by Moscow to continue its fight against Brussels.

Currently, more than 80% of Hungary’s oil and natural gas and 100% of its nuclear fuel come from Russia, and Hungary’s total trade contributes approximately US$5 billion to the Russian budget every year.

Like Trump, Putin has made clear that he wants Orban to win next April’s election, so another diplomatic “win” for Orban would be in the interest of both parties.

At the Valdai Forum in Sochi on September 29 this year, Putin personally praised Orban and paid tribute to the “state-oriented political forces” that have made progress in Europe.

“If these forces in Europe continue to grow, Europe will be reborn,” Putin said.