Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that he will allow Hungary’s foreign minister to take two Ukrainian-Hungarian prisoners of war (POWs) with him when he returns to Budapest.
“As [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán] requested, you will be able to take them with you on the plane you arrived on and the plane you will return to Budapest on,” Putin told Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó during a meeting in Moscow, according to Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti.
In a statement released later on Wednesday, Kyiv accused Moscow of “manipulating” the issue of POWs for political gain.
“It is striking how cynical it is to make the issue of the release of people part of political PR ahead of the elections in Hungary and a bargaining chip in relations with the Kremlin,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry said, according to AFP.
The UN Commission of Inquiry has concluded that Russia’s use of torture against POWs and civilian detainees amounts to crimes against humanity.
Hungary’s energy crisis
Szijjártó said on X that he had traveled to Moscow to “ensure that Hungary continues to receive oil and gas necessary for our energy security, even during the ongoing crises, and to secure guarantees that these supplies will be delivered at unchanged prices.”
Until Jan. 27, Hungary was able to rely on Russia’s Druzhba oil pipeline, which passes through Ukrainian territory, to meet most of its energy needs. Budapest claims that Kyiv is blocking the pipeline on purpose, while Kyiv maintains that it was severely damaged by a Russian missile attack.
Putin appeared to wish to assuage his ally’s concerns, telling Szijjártó that “regarding hydrocarbons, I understand that this cannot but concern you, especially oil supplies,” as per RIA Novosti.
“We have always fulfilled all our obligations and, of course, intend and are ready to do so,” he added.
The identities of the two Ukrainian-Hungarian POWs who will return to Budapest with Szijjártó are not known. Putin claimed that they are among a group of POWs being held in Russia who have both Ukrainian and Hungarian citizenship and were “forcibly mobilized” to fight for Ukraine.
Budapest and Moscow
Hungary has long been close to the Kremlin. Along with Slovakia, which is also reliant on cheap Russian oil, Hungary is in this sense an outlier among European countries.
Orbán’s autocratic government is soon to face its first serious electoral challenge in over a decade, in the form of Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar’s Tisza party. On April 12, the country will head to the polls.
As his iron grip is tested, Orbán’s Fidesz party has increasingly focused on fanning Hungarians’ fears that they will be drawn into Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Pressure is also building on the home front. Szijjártó said that Hungary’s energy supply faces “several challenges.”
“Ukraine has blocked oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline, Croatia is disputing our right to purchase Russian oil via maritime routes, and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the Iran war has disrupted global energy shipments,” he said.