Hungary's deepening relationship with Russia and Prime Minister Viktor Orban's recent meeting with President Vladimir Putin is causing growing concern in the United States and among allies, Ambassador David Pressman confirmed to RFE/RL on October 20.
Orban, who held talks with Putin on October 17 on the sidelines of China's Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, is the first leader of a European Union country to meet with Putin since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant accusing the Russian leader of war crimes over the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Orban and Putin discussed bilateral cooperation in natural gas and crude oil transportation as well as nuclear energy, the Hungarian government said.
During the meeting, Orban, who was also the only leader of an EU and NATO country to attend the Beijing forum, reportedly referred to the war in Ukraine as "a military operation," mimicking the Kremlin's official description of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine as "a special military operation."
He also told Putin that Hungary never wanted to oppose Russia.
“It is important to discuss Hungary’s deepening relationship with Russia, especially following Prime Minister Orban’s troubling decision to hold a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the language he used to describe Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine," Pressman told RFE/RL in an emailed statement.
"The United States is concerned about Hungary’s relationship with Russia. Putin’s illegal, unprovoked war against Ukraine violates international norms and represents a threat to the United States and its allies, including Hungary,” Pressman said.
The U.S. envoy's comments, first reported by Reuters, came a day after the ambassadors of NATO countries to Hungary gathered to discuss “security concerns” over the “deepening relationship" between Russia and Budapest.
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The gathering, called by Pressman, was also attended by a representative of NATO candidate Sweden, whose joining the alliance has been met with resistance from Hungary and Turkey.
“It is worrying that Hungary has decided to contact Putin in this way,” Pressman told RFE/RL's Hungarian Service on October 19.
“We see Hungary as an ally, but at the same time we also see that Hungary is deepening its relationship with Russia despite its brutal war in Ukraine,” he added.
Pressman also said that Washington expects these “legitimate security concerns” to be taken seriously by the Hungarian government.
Orban's meeting with Putin has prompted not only concern, but also outrage among some NATO allies.
"It was very, very unpleasant to see that [handshake]," Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, one of Ukraine's staunchest allies, told Reuters on October 18.
"How can you shake a criminal's hand, who has waged the war of aggression, especially coming from a country that has a history like Hungary has," Kallas said, referring to Hungary's being invaded by Moscow's troops in 1956.
Orban has repeatedly spoken out against the Western sanctions on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine and has opposed plans to grant more aid to Ukraine.
Just days before Orban's meeting with Putin, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto visited Moscow for an energy forum and said that Budapest has no intention of reducing purchases of Russian oil supplied through the Druzhba pipeline even though the EU has sanctioned the Russian oil sector.
Under Orban, who has been in power since 2010, Hungary has seen an accelerated slide toward authoritarianism and widespread corruption that prompted Brussels in December last year to freeze 6.3 billion euros earmarked for Budapest.