Putin Meets Hungarian PM for First Time since 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin has held talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Beijing.
As Bertalan Havasi, press secretary of Orbán, confirmed to the Magyar Távirati Iroda (MTI) agency, Orbán discussed with Putin Hungarian-Russian cooperation in the gas and oil supply field, as well as nuclear energy.
The Hungarian prime minister emphasised the importance of peace during the meeting.
Orbán said the stopping of the flow of refugees, sanctions, and hostilities is vital for the entire continent, including Hungary.
Earlier, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that a meeting with Orbán was not planned, but the talks did take place.
Putin has met with the European Union country leader for the first time since the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
Orbán has regularly made statements in the spirit of Russian propaganda. In particular, the Hungarian prime minister said the historical possibility of Ukraine joining NATO has been lost and it is necessary to forget about Kyiv's accession to the Alliance.
Orbán also stated that it is not clear what Ukraine’s territory and population are due to the war, and also said that before holding "serious talks about the accession" of Ukraine, the EU should conduct a strategic analysis of how it will affect the union.