FM Szijjártó: Hungary and Russia are committed to maintaining energy cooperation

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and President Vladimir Putin have held extensive phone talks and both are in full agreement that everything must be done to maintain energy cooperation, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said on Wednesday.

Hungary’s energy security, the war in Ukraine, and developments in Syria were discussed during the talks lasting more than an hour. Szijjártó said the current US administration had made it hard for some central and south-east European countries, including Hungary, to make payments for natural gas and nuclear fuel by placing Gazprombank under sanctions.

Slovakia, Serbia and Turkey also face similar challenges, and consultations with these countries, too, were underway, he said. Szijjártó said Orbán and Putin had agreed that all avenues must be explored exhaustively “to eliminate this problem”. Putin made it clear that Russia is committed to maintaining energy cooperation and guaranteeing Hungary’s energy supply, he said, adding that there was nothing on either Hungary’s or Russia’s part to prevent a solution from being found.

He said a solution had already been found for fuel rods for Hungary’s nuclear power plant, and payment methods for the Paks expansion development, as well as for natural gas trade, were being worked out. Szijjártó noted that he had spoken with Alexei Likhachev, the chief executive of Rosatom, about speeding up the Paks project, and he would also hold a meeting with Alexander Novak, the Russian deputy PM in charge of energy affairs, in the afternoon.