Putin meets Orban in Moscow: Live Updates

Russia is pressing ahead with Hungary’s Paks-2 nuclear plant and expects to pour the first concrete next spring, Rosatom chief Aleksey Likhachev has said after reportedly joining the closed-door Putin-Orban talks.

Launched under a 2014 bilateral deal, Paks-2 will add two Rosatom-built VVER-1200 reactors, financed largely by a €10 billion ($11.5 billion) Russian state loan toward an estimated €12.5 billion cost, after US sanctions delays were eased under recent waivers.

Kirill Dmitriev, an aide to Putin who is deeply involved in normalization talks with the US, has commented on Orban’s visit, saying he is “Europe’s voice of reason.”

Putin thanks Orban for offering hospitality to foreign leaders, including after US President Donald Trump said his next in-person meeting with the Russian leader could take place in Budapest.

“That was Donald’s idea,” Putin said. “He told me: ‘We both have good relations with Hungary. You are on good terms with Viktor, and so am I.’ It was my pleasure to agree to the proposal.”

No date has been scheduled for the proposed summit, pending discussion of the end of the Ukraine conflict.

Orban says Hungary has not yielded to foreign pressure to suspend cooperation with Russia.

“We highly appreciate the stability and predictability of Russian energy supplies,” the prime minister said, adding that continuing trade is in Hungary’s interests.

Orban reiterated Budapest’s offer to host peace talks on Ukraine, saying the ongoing conflict is disruptive for economic relations. US initiatives aimed at resolving it will hopefully result in peace, he said.

Putin tells Orban he appreciates his pragmatic and balanced approach to foreign affairs, including the Ukraine conflict, and respects the fact that he puts Hungarian interests first.

“Our views on international relations may occasionally not coincide, but the spirit of our relations allows frank discussions of any issues,” the president said.

A Kremlin pool reporter has published the first images of the Putin-Orban meeting.

Orban has reiterated that energy cooperation tops his agenda for the trip.

Hungary’s use of Russian energy, which the Orban administration describes as vital to the country’s economic wellbeing, has been one of the key sticking points for Kiev. The Ukrainian government wants all Russian exports to stop and has repeatedly struck the Soviet-built Druzhba pipeline, which brings oil to consumers in Hungary.

Budapest has said the Ukrainian attacks undermine Hungary’s energy sovereignty. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky said Hungary is the one damaging its friendship with Kiev, in reference to the meaning of the word ‘druzhba’ (friendship) in Russian. The Orban government refuses to supply weapons to Ukraine and opposes its bids to join the EU and NATO.

The Kremlin has published a short clip showing Orban coming out of a car that brought him from the airport.

Another one showed Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto shaking hands with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.