The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, met this Friday (28) in the Kremlin with the dictator of Russia, Vladimir Putin, with the declared objective of “guaranteeing” the supply of more Russian oil and natural gas.
“We have important areas of cooperation and we are not giving up on any of them, regardless of external pressure,” said Orbán, according to information from the Associated Press, referring to the measures against energy imports from Russia that the European Union, of which Hungary is a member, has been implementing.
“Russian energy forms the basis of Hungary’s energy supply, now and in the future”, added the prime minister, who before the meeting had stated that the objective of the visit was “to guarantee Hungary’s energy supply at an affordable price, both this winter [no Hemisfério Norte] as well as next year.”
Orbán, who met with Putin for the 14th time, is Russia’s main ally in the European Union and since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, he has tried to avoid Moscow’s isolation and force a peace agreement, even under unfavorable conditions for Kiev.
This Friday, Putin said that the Hungarian prime minister maintains a “balanced position” on the war in Ukraine.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, has threatened to impose sanctions and tariffs against countries that buy oil from Russia (he has already done this with India, whose exports to the USA are being taxed at 50%), but in a meeting with Orbán at the White House, on the 7th, he opened a one-year exception for Hungary – the Hungarian prime minister is also an ally of the American president.
