KECSKEMÉT, Hungary: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced Saturday that he was sending a business delegation to Russia in the coming days in preparation of the end of the Ukraine war.
Orban addressed Budapest’s foreign relations with Moscow and also Washington at an exclusive rally in the central city of Kecskemet, just a month ahead of legislative elections.
The delegation’s mission would focus on economic cooperation, particularly in a post-war landscape that could see Russia not cut out from the Western economy but rather reintegrated, he said.
The Hungarian premier is a rare European leader to be close to both US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He noted he was in discussions with both Washington and Moscow, although said he could not “share every detail”.
“We have to think ahead, because if God helps us and the war ends without us being dragged into it, and if the American president succeeds in reintegrating Russia into the global economy and the sanctions are dismantled, we will find ourselves in a different economic landscape,” Orban said.
According to Hungarian press, the country’s MOL oil and gas firm is considering acquiring refineries and petrol stations in Europe owned by Russian groups Lukoil and Gazprom, both currently subject to US sanctions.
Orban and Trump discussed this in a meeting early in November.
In a late November visit to Moscow, Orban promised Putin he would continue importing Russian oil and gas, which Hungary remains dependent on, in defiance of the European Union.
Unlike other European countries, Hungary has not diversified its imports since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022.
Orban also in November referred the matter of banning Russian national gas imports by the end of 2027 to the EU Court of Justice.
