President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Tuesday to discuss the plight of Hungarians fighting for Ukraine who were taken prisoner by Russia.
Putin and Orbán “addressed issues concerning Hungarian citizens mobilized into the armed forces of Ukraine and taken into Russian captivity,” the Kremlin said in a statement. It did not specify the number of Hungarian citizens captured.
Hungary has not yet commented on the call with Putin.
It was the first known phone call between the two leaders since oil flows to Hungary and Slovakia via Russia’s Druzhba pipeline stopped after a Russian strike reportedly damaged the line on Jan. 27. Slovakia has said that supplies should resume this Wednesday.
Orbán visited Putin in Moscow in November amid his efforts to secure a one-year exemption from U.S. sanctions against Russian energy giants Lukoil and Rosneft.
Hungary depends heavily on Russian oil and gas imports, which Orbán calls “cheap relative to international prices,” despite Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.
As Hungary resists the EU’s efforts to impose additional sanctions on Russia, the Kremlin said Putin credited Orbán’s “desire to pursue a balanced and sovereign course.”
On Tuesday, Putin and Orbán also discussed rising energy prices after the United States and Israel this weekend launched military strikes against Iran, which retaliated with drone and missile attacks on energy, military and other sites across the Gulf and the wider region.
Orbán is a longtime ally of both Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump.
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