Hungary’s Orban to meet Putin for talks on energy, Ukraine peace efforts

BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday to discuss crude and gas supplies for Hungary and also peace efforts in Ukraine.

Orban has maintained close relations with Moscow despite the war in neighbouring Ukraine, and Hungary is still largely reliant on Russian energy, despite European Union efforts to cut dependence.

Orban revealed his plan to meet Putin in a video interview on his Facebook page, adding, “I am going (to Moscow) to ensure that Hungary’s energy supply is secured for the winter and next year.”

When asked if peace efforts in Ukraine would also be on the agenda, Orban said, “We can hardly avoid that.”

The United States 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 President Donald Trump in Washington.

Hungary also signed a pact on nuclear power cooperation with the United States.

The deal provides for Hungary to buy U.S. nuclear fuel and technology to store spent fuel at a Russian-built nuclear plant, known as Paks I. Russia’s Rosatom is building an extension to the plant, a 2014 project that has been substantially delayed.

Orban has said before that he wants to revive plans for a “peace summit” in Budapest between Trump and Putin on Ukraine, which was shelved this year.

In contrast to most NATO and European Union leaders, Orban has kept up cordial relations with Russia while questioning the logic of Western military aid for Kyiv.

Hungary has imported 8.5 million tonnes of crude oil and more than 7 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia this year, its foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.

(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)