Hungary’s Orban says will visit Putin in Moscow

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Moscow, with Orban saying energy will be on the agenda.

Hungary — the Kremlin’s closest ally in the European Union — still depends heavily on Russian gas and oil imports despite sanctions after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.

“I am going there to ensure that Hungary’s energy supply is secured for the winter and the following year at an affordable price,” Orban said in a video uploaded to Facebook.

The nationalist leader claimed Hungary has the lowest energy price in Europe thanks to its access to Russian gas and oil, which is “cheap relative to international price levels.”

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to the TASS news agency that Putin will meet the Hungarian leader.

Since returning to power in 2010, Orban has met Putin 15 times. This is their fourth meeting since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Orban often irritates other EU leaders by breaking the bloc’s unity on the conflict, stymieing tougher sanctions on Moscow and frustrating Kyiv’s bid for membership.

Last year Orban infuriated the leaders of the 27-nation bloc by traveling to Moscow on a self-styled “peace mission” just days after Hungary took up EU rotating presidency.

Orban — who is facing an election next year expected to be a tight battle — visited his “dear friend” US President Donald Trump at the White House earlier this month.

He is said to have secured a one-year exemption from sanctions for buying Russian oil and gas, however Washington is yet to publish the official waiver.

Trump slapped sanctions on Moscow’s two largest oil companies in October after losing patience with Putin over his refusal to end the war in Ukraine.

Orban was set to host a planned US-Russia summit in Budapest on the Ukraine war, but the meeting was canceled by Trump before a date was set.