Hungarian FM visits Moscow seeking to secure Russian natural gas supplies for winter

Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter Szijarto, arrived in Moscow, where he will meet with the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation for Energy Affairs Aleksandr Novak, the European diplomat reported on Facebook.

"Cold weather is approaching, energy security is again in the spotlight," he wrote on Thursday evening after arriving in the Russian capital.

The day before, Hungary's top diplomat was in Georgia, where a joint meeting of the Hungarian and local governments took place.

The news outlet PAP, with reference to the Hungarian mass media, notes that this is Szijjarto's fifth visit to Moscow since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs has never come to Kyiv.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister continues to meet with Russian politicians. In September, during the session of the UN General Assembly, he met with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, and also called on Western colleagues to follow his example.

On May 17, 2023, Szijjarto stated that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is trying to undermine the sovereignty and independence of Hungary.

On September 15, Szijjarto accused Europe of "globalizing" Russia's war against Ukraine. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry told him that he was spreading Russian fakes.