2021 had been the best year in Hungary-Russia cooperation, says foreign minister

The Hungarian government aims to further strengthen a recent “wave of dialogue between Western allies and Russia” to ease tension, the foreign ministry quoted Péter Szijjártó as saying in Moscow on Tuesday.

The foreign minister had talks with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, after which he noted the recent emergence of “extremely serious tension” in central and eastern Europe, which he said was sharply against Hungary’s national security interests.

Dialogue is the only way to ease that tension “using all diplomatic means”, Szijjártó said.

“We have come to Moscow to support that dialogue,” he added.

Szijjártó called recent talks between the West and Russia “good news”, noting two conversations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron over the past few days, and a planned call between Lavrov and US counterpart Antony Blinken later on Tuesday. He added that another call between Putin and British PM Boris Johnson was being negotiated, while a British ministerial delegation could soon visit Moscow.