Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted on Friday the proposal made to him at the Kremlin by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to host peace negotiations for Ukraine in Budapest.
“If the Budapest platform is used during our negotiations, I would also be delighted. And I want to thank you for your willingness to help,” Putin said at the start of the meeting at the Kremlin Palace.
Putin pointed out that he was already fine with it when, last October, US President Donald Trump offered the Hungarian capital as the venue for the Russian-American summit, which was very poorly received by the European Union (EU), although the meeting was subsequently cancelled.
“It was Donald’s proposal. He said, ‘We have a good relationship with Hungary, you and Viktor had a good relationship, and so did I. Of course, we gladly accepted,’” he commented.
Orbán asserted that today's meeting at the Kremlin—the fourteenth, according to his calculations—allows him to"confirm, Mr. President, that Hungary is prepared to offer itself as the venue for such negotiations and is ready to contribute to the successful outcome of this process."
“Hungary is interested in peace and we sincerely hope that the peace initiative recently unveiled will ultimately lead to that peace,” said Orbán, who stressed that his country’s foreign policy towards Russia is consistent and does not accept external pressure.
In response, Putin highlighted the Hungarian leader's"balanced stance" on Ukraine, which differs from that of most EU members, as he opposes financially supporting kyiv and sanctioning Moscow, while taking for granted the victory of the Russian army in the war.
The meeting was attended by the foreign ministers of both countries, Russia's Sergey Lavrov and Hungary's Peter Szijjartó, and the Russian deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, coordinator of the country's energy policy, which supplies Budapest with oil and gas at below-market prices.
