Vladimir Putin praised the Hungarian PM's "balanced position" as the two leaders discussed Ukraine, energy, and a possible Budapest peace summit.
By Zoltán KOTTÁSZ
Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's "balanced position" on Ukraine as the two leaders met in the Kremlin on Friday, November 28th for talks focused on the war, energy security, and the prospect of Budapest hosting a future U.S.-Russia summit.
Putin said that Moscow appreciated Hungary's "moderate stance." He also thanked Orbán for being prepared to host a meeting between him and U.S. President Donald Trump in Budapest.
According to an X post by Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó, the Russian president also confirmed he would be ready to meet Trump in the Hungarian capital and also stated that meeting in Budapest was "Donald's idea," who said he "we have good relations with Hungary," and reiterating that both he and Putin have good relations "with Viktor [Orbán]" as well.
🇭🇺 Peace Summit in Budapest 🇺🇸🇷🇺 pic.twitter.com/XH1f0QCy1D- Péter Szijjártó (@FM_Szijjarto) November 28, 2025
The talks in Moscow-Orbán's second visit since last year-underline the Hungarian leader's unique role within the European Union. Since the beginning of the war, he has been the only EU head of government to maintain open communication channels with the Kremlin, and the only one to consistently call for peace talks rather than increased military support for Ukraine.
Western European leaders and Brussels, by contrast, have preferred to fuel the war through military aid packages while failing to produce any strategy for diplomatic negotiations.
Similarly to Putin, Trump, too, has welcomed Orbán's distinct diplomatic strategy as the U.S. president is pushing his own plan for ending the war. Budapest was agreed upon as a future venue for a U.S.-Russia summit, but an agreement on Trump's 28-point peace plan would have to be a precursor to that.
While the EU is currently focusing on seizing Russian assets to use as a so-called reparations loan for Ukraine, it is simultaneously upset that it is being excluded from peace talks as Trump and Orbán make efforts to bring Moscow to the negotiating table.
On Thursday, Putin said he would end his Ukraine offensive if Kyiv withdrew from territory Moscow claims as its own-otherwise his army would take it by force.
Washington's original plan would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea, and Lugansk regions as Russian, but Washington backtracked following criticism from Europe, and has not yet released the new version.
Another central issue for Orbán in his dealings with Russia is the question of energy. "Energy supplies from Russia form the basis of Hungary's energy supply now and will remain so in the future," he said during the meeting, stressing that stable oil and gas deliveries were essential to keeping Hungarian energy prices the lowest in the EU.
Ahead of the trip, Orbán said he had recently travelled to Washington to secure an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian energy companies. "We succeeded," he announced on social media.
Now we must take the next step, guaranteeing that deliveries to Hungary continue without interruption. This is why I am going to Russia today: to make sure Hungary's energy supply remains secure and affordable this winter and in the year ahead.
🛫 Today, we are travelling to meet President Putin to ensure Hungary's energy supply. Hungary's oil & gas arrive through pipelines from Russia, making these deliveries the key point of our energy security.We recently travelled to Washington to secure Hungary's exemption from...
- Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) November 28, 2025
His political director, Balázs Orbán, warned that Europe was "steering onto an increasingly wartime course", cutting itself off from Russian energy while pushing for new sanctions, accelerating Ukraine's EU accession, and risking elevating the conflict "into a broader Europe-Russia confrontation."
Hungary argues that such policies harm European competitiveness and ignore the interests of EU citizens, particularly as households across the bloc struggle with soaring energy prices.
Original article: europeanconservative.com