Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday to discuss crude and gas supplies for Hungary and also peace efforts in Ukraine.
The move would also enable Hungary to provide oil to neighbouring Serbia. He said that Hungary would be “pleased” to take a role in Serbia’s NIS oil company, but added that the future of the refinery affected by U.S. sanctions remains a decision for Serbia.
Orban has maintained close relations with Moscow despite the war in neighbouring Ukraine, and Hungary is still largely reliant on Russian energy, despite European Union efforts to cut dependence.
Orban revealed his plan to meet Putin in a video interview on his Facebook page, adding, "I am going (to Moscow) to ensure that Hungary's energy supply is secured for the winter and next year."
When asked if peace efforts in Ukraine would also be on the agenda, Orban said, "We can hardly avoid that."
The United States gave Hungary an exemption from sanctions this month to use Russian oil and gas, after Orban pressed his case for a reprieve during a friendly meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington.
Hungary also signed a pact on nuclear power cooperation with the United States.
The deal provides for Hungary to buy U.S. nuclear fuel and technology to store spent fuel at a Russian-built nuclear plant, known as Paks I.
Russia's Rosatom is building an extension to the plant, a 2014 project that has been substantially delayed.
Orban has said before that he wants to revive plans for a "peace summit" in Budapest between Trump and Putin on Ukraine, which was shelved this year.
In contrast to most NATO and European Union leaders, Orban has kept up cordial relations with Russia while questioning the logic of Western military aid for Kyiv.
Hungary has imported 8.5 million tonnes of crude oil and more than 7 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia this year, its foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday.
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Leaders of countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have agreed to hold coordinated population censuses around 2030. They took the decision at the CIS Council of Heads of State meeting in Awaza, Turkmenistan on Friday, media reported.
The explosion at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday afternoon killed at least 12 people and injured a further 309, according to Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Authority. The airport remains closed until further notice.
Britain and Israel have reached a temporary compromise over the future of the British Consulate General in East Jerusalem, easing a diplomatic dispute that had threatened to further strain relations between the two countries.
South African judge Navanethem “Navi” Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday “for her efforts to promote peace and international law,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday (9 October) escalating tensions with European allies and potentially targeting companies that provide services to the tribunal. The move came hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Indian police detained more than 2,000 protesters in Delhi on Saturday as authorities blocked a planned demonstration calling for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over disputed changes to voter lists.
At least 12 people, including three children, have been killed in a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a deal to ease sanctions on Russian diesel.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticised U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to ease sanctions on Russian diesel exports, questioning why Moscow was granted an economic benefit without an apparent concession towards ending the war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed surprise after Donald Trump mediated the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace agreement in 2025, the U.S. President said at a rally in New York state on Friday.
The United Nations has condemned a sharp rise in attacks on civilians in Ukraine, reporting that more than 100 people were killed and at least 429 injured in a single week as Russian strikes hit residential areas, passenger buses and critical infrastructure.
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