Orban to meet Putin in Moscow – DW – 11/28/2025

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is heading to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on crude oil and gas supplies to Hungary. Orbán said he also intended to address peace efforts in Ukraine.

Orban remains Putin’s closest ally in the 27-member EU, despite Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly four years ago. Hungary is dependent on Russian energy. Despite EU efforts to cut dependence, about 19% of the bloc’s gas imports in 2025 will come from Russia.

“Energy security and cheap, low energy prices in Hungary in winter,” he wrote in a Facebook post. “That’s why we went to Washington, and that’s why I’m going to Moscow now.”

Asked whether there would also be peace efforts in Ukraine, Orbán said, “We can hardly avoid it.”

Orban had previously said he wanted to revive plans for a “peace summit” in Budapest between US President Donald Trump and Putin on Ukraine, which had been postponed this year as fighting continued.

Unlike most NATO and EU leaders, Orbán has maintained cordial relations with Russia while questioning the logic of Western military aid to Kiev.

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.

Thank you for joining us today as we bring you the latest news regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine.

International efforts continue to reach an agreement that would end Russia’s war in Ukraine with the US delegation set for talks in Russia next week.

But before that, Prime Minister Viktor Orban of EU member Hungary is heading to Moscow on Friday to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.