Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban ahead of the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China, October 17, 2023. Sputnik/Grigory Sysoyev/Pool via REUTERS Acquire Licensing Rights
BEIJING, Oct 17 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin and his closest ally among European Union leaders, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to bilateral ties amid international tensions over the war in Ukraine.
Hungary – which has opposed many EU initiatives to support Ukraine in resisting Moscow’s forces and gets most of its crude oil and gas from Russia – has never wanted to oppose Russia and is trying to salvage bilateral contacts, Orban told Putin in comments via an interpreter broadcast on Russian television before a forum in Beijing.
The men met in the government guest house where Putin was staying before…
