Talking to the public service media at the Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport, the Prime Minister said the plan is to not just leave for, but to also arrive in Moscow which is not so simple as it once used to be due to the war, they are required to make a long detour. “Therefore, we have to leave at 4.00 in the morning in order to arrive at the meeting due to be held this morning. We will have talks with the Russian President today,” he said.
According to his information, from a Hungarian viewpoint, the purpose of the talks is to be able to continue to secure Hungary’s energy supply, meaning gas and oil. Hungary receives gas and oil from Russia via pipelines, he added.
“This is a major battle, in the whole of Europe, prices are continually increasing, with large fluctuations. This is taking its toll on households, and is also taking its toll on the economy in the whole of Western Europe. Today in the whole of Europe, energy prices are the lowest in Hungary. This is so because we have access to cheap Russian oil and gas, cheap compared with the international price level,” Mr Orbán stressed.
He recalled that the Americans had introduced sanctions against Russian energy companies. “We went to Washington not so long ago in order to have Hungary removed from under the effect of these sanctions. We managed to achieve this, this is great. Now, we only need gas and oil; we can buy that from the Russians. I’m going there in order to secure Hungary’s energy supply at an affordable price also for the winter and for the year ahead,” the Prime Minister stressed.
In answer to the question of whether the issue of peace will be on the agenda during the talks with President Putin, Mr Orbán said “we can hardly avoid that.”
