<figure id="attachment_3222098" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3222098" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-3222098" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/17ce94a8-13540203.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3222098" class="wp-caption-text">Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands during a meeting at the Kremlin. (EPA Images pic)</figcaption></figure>
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Moscow on Friday on a rare visit by an EU and Nato leader, saying he would still be happy for Budapest to host a Russia-US summit with President Donald Trump.
Orban said he wanted detailed talks on Russian oil and gas supplies, calling them vital for Hungary&#8217;s energy security.
The Hungarian leader, meeting Putin for the 14th time, has kept close ties with the Kremlin despite Russia&#8217;s war in Ukraine, which prompted 19 rounds of EU sanctions and a sharp cut in reliance on Russian energy. He has often questioned Western military aid for Kyiv.
Orban, who also has warm relations with Trump, was set to host a Putin-Trump summit in October before the US leader pulled out, saying he did not want it to be a waste of time.
In televised remarks, Putin told Orban he would still welcome the meeting in Budapest and thanked him for offering the venue.
The talks came as Trump&#8217;s envoy Steve Witkoff prepares to meet Putin in Moscow next week in a renewed push to end the war.
&#8220;We very much hope that the peace proposals on the table will lead to a ceasefire and peace,&#8221; Orban said. Earlier, he said on Facebook he was visiting Moscow &#8220;to ensure Hungary’s energy supply is secured for the winter and next year&#8221;.
The US gave Hungary an exemption from sanctions this month to use Russian oil and gas, after Orban pressed his case for a reprieve during a friendly meeting with Trump in Washington.
In a potentially unwelcome development for Moscow, Hungary also signed a pact on nuclear power cooperation with the US to buy fuel and technology for storing spent fuel at Paks I, a Russian-built plant south of Budapest.
Russia&#8217;s Rosatom is building an extension to the plant, a 2014 project delayed for years.
Hungary imported 8.5 million tonnes of crude oil and more than 7 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Russia this year, its foreign ministry said on Friday.
Putin described Hungary&#8217;s position on the Ukraine war as &#8220;balanced&#8221; and said that bilateral trade had fallen by 23% last year due to &#8220;external restrictions&#8221;, but recovered by 7% in 2025.

MatchPoint Times

Putin hosts Hungary’s Orban for talks on energy and Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would still be happy for Budapest to host a Russia-US summit with President Donald Trump.

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