By Justin Spike | Associated Press
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Friday, once again shunning efforts by his European Union partners to isolate Moscow over its invasion of neighboring Ukraine nearly four years ago.
The trip to Moscow is the second since last year for Orbán, who is widely considered Putin’s closest partner among all EU leaders. Hungary is one of only a few EU countries to continue importing large quantities of Russian fossil fuels, and Orbán has strongly opposed efforts by the bloc to wean its 27 member nations off Russian energy supplies.
“We have important areas of cooperation, and we haven’t given up on any area of that cooperation, no matter the external pressure,” Orbán said. “Russian energy forms the basis of Hungary’s energy supply, now and in the future.”
Orbán has long argued for a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine but without outlining what that might mean for the country’s territorial integrity or future security. That stance has dismayed Hungary’s EU and NATO allies, who accuse Russia of breaking international law and threatening the security of Eastern European countries.
In his opening remarks at the Kremlin talks, Putin noted Orbán’s “balanced position” on the war in Ukraine. A little less than four hours later, the Kremlin reported that the talks ended.
Orbán seeks Russian oil and gas after Trump exemption
Earlier this month, Orbán traveled to Washington for a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and succeeded in securing an exemption to sanctions the Trump administration placed on Russian energy companies Lukoil and Rosneft — an allowance Orbán said ensured Hungary’s continued energy security.
Orbán said Friday that following Hungary’s exemption from U.S. sanctions, “now all we need is oil and gas, which we can buy from the Russians. I am going there to ensure Hungary’s energy supply at an affordable price both this winter and next year.”
Orbán has long argued Russian energy imports are indispensable for his country’s economy, and that switching to fossil fuels sourced from elsewhere would cause an immediate economic collapse — a claim some critics dispute. As the rest of Europe has gradually cut off Russian energy, Hungary has maintained and even increased its imports, and argued against an EU plan to eliminate all Russian fossil fuels by the end of 2027.
Trump’s envoy expected in Moscow for talks on peace plan
The Trump administration has said it is seeing signs that its sanctions on major Russian oil producers are crimping the economic engine that has allowed Moscow to continue to fund its war in Ukraine. Prices for Russian oil have plunged as major Indian and Chinese buyers moved to comply with U.S. sanctions before they went into effect last week, according to a senior Treasury Department official.
Meanwhile, Trump last week released a plan for ending the nearly four-year war. The 28-point proposal heavily favored Russia, prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to quickly engage with American negotiators. European leaders, fearing for their own future facing Russian aggression, scrambled to steer the negotiations toward accommodating their concerns.
Trump said Tuesday that his plan to end the war had been “fine-tuned”, and that he’s sending envoy Steve Witkoff to Russia to meet with Putin and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to meet with Ukrainian officials. He suggested he could eventually meet with Putin and Zelenskyy, but not until further progress has been made in negotiations.
Russian state news agency RIA Novosti on Friday cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Putin will host Witkoff for talks “in the first half” of next week, promising to announce the exact date “in due time.” Putin is scheduled travel to India for talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later in the week, on Dec. 4-5, according to the Kremlin.
Peskov said earlier on Friday that the “main parameters” of the peace plan, revised during Ukraine-U.S. talks in Geneva last weekend, were relayed to Russia, and there will be “a discussion in Moscow” next week.
Ukrainian drones cause damage in Russia
In other developments, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported Friday that its air defenses intercepted 136 Ukrainian drones over a number of Russian regions and the annexed Crimea overnight. Damage to cars, residential buildings and houses was reported by authorities in the Rostov and Voronezh regions near the border with Ukraine.
But the Ukrainian general staff said its forces struck an oil refinery in Saratov, Russia, the general staff wrote in a statement on Telegram. A series of explosions started a fire, the message said.
Ukraine also conducted aerial strikes against Russian air defense units and drone storage and fuel depots in the occupied territories.
Late Friday evening, Ukraine’s Air Force said that it had detected several Russian missiles launched at the Khmelnytskyi region. At least one of the missiles was an aero-ballistic Kinzhal missile. Regional authorities didn’t immediately comment on the attack.
Russia attacks Kyiv and Dnipro
Russia launched attacks on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the southern city of Dnipro early on Saturday, just before a second round of peace negotiations was set to begin.
Residential buildings and houses were damaged in six locations across Kyiv’s Shevchenkivskyi, Solomianskyi and Darnytskyi districts, according to the head of the Kyiv city administration, Tymur Tkachenko. He added that four people were injured.
It was not immediately clear what, if anything, was hit in Dnipro. Ukraine’s public broadcaster, Suspilne, reported explosions in the city.
Ukrainian peace negotiators are due to meet their U.S. counterparts in America this weekend, according to an official in Ukraine’s presidential administration who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. A U.S. delegation is then expected to travel to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the second half of next week.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
