BUDAPEST: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Moscow, with Orban saying energy will be on the agenda.
Hungary — the Kremlin’s closest ally in the European Union — still depends heavily on Russian gas and oil imports despite sanctions after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.
“I am going there to ensure that Hungary’s energy supply is secured for the winter and the following year at an affordable price,” Orban said in a video uploaded to Facebook.
The nationalist leader claimed Hungary has the lowest energy price in Europe thanks to its access to Russian gas and oil, which is “cheap relative to international price levels.”
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed to the TASS news agency that Putin will meet the Hungarian leader.
Since returning to power in 2010, Orban has met Putin 15 times. This is their fourth meeting since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Orban often irritates other EU leaders by breaking the bloc’s unity on the conflict, stymieing tougher sanctions on Moscow and frustrating Kyiv’s bid for membership.
Last year Orban infuriated the leaders of the 27-nation bloc by traveling to Moscow on a self-styled “peace mission” just days after Hungary took up EU rotating presidency.
Orban — who is facing an election next year expected to be a tight battle — visited his “dear friend” US President Donald Trump at the White House earlier this month.
He is said to have secured a one-year exemption from sanctions for buying Russian oil and gas, however Washington is yet to publish the official waiver.
Trump slapped sanctions on Moscow’s two largest oil companies in October after losing patience with Putin over his refusal to end the war in Ukraine.
Orban was set to host a planned US-Russia summit in Budapest on the Ukraine war, but the meeting was canceled by Trump before a date was set.
Hungary’s Orban says will visit Putin in Moscow
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Hungary’s Orban says will visit Putin in Moscow
- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday in Moscow, with Orban saying energy will be on the agenda
Drone strikes in Ethiopia’s Tigray region kill one, injure another
- The senior Tigrayan official said the drone strikes hit two Isuzu trucks near Enticho and Gendebta
- The Ethiopian National Defense Force launched the strikes but did not provide evidence
ADDIS ABABA: One person was killed and another injured in drone strikes in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region on Saturday, a senior Tigrayan official and a humanitarian worker said, in another sign of renewed conflict between regional and national forces.
Ethiopia’s national army fought fighters from the Tigray People’s Liberation Front for two years until late 2022, in a war researchers say killed hundreds of thousands through direct violence, the collapse of health care and famine.
Fighting broke out between regional and national forces in the disputed territory of western Tigray earlier this week, according to diplomatic and government sources.
The senior Tigrayan official said the drone strikes hit two Isuzu trucks near Enticho and Gendebta, two places in Tigray about 20 kilometers apart. A humanitarian worker confirmed the strikes had happened. Both asked not to be named.
The Tigrayan official said the Ethiopian National Defense Force launched the strikes but did not provide evidence.
A spokesperson for the ENDF did not respond to a request for comment.
It was not immediately clear what the trucks were carrying.
TPLF-affiliated news outlet Dimtsi Weyane posted pictures on Facebook which it said showed the trucks damaged in the strikes. It said the trucks were transporting food and cooking items.
Pro-government activists posting on social media said the trucks were carrying weapons.
Earlier this week national carrier Ethiopian Airlines canceled flights to Tigray, where residents rushed to try to withdraw cash from banks.
The Tigray war ended with a peace pact in November 2022, but disagreements have continued over a range of issues, including contested territories in western Tigray and the delayed disarmament of Tigray forces.
