MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. The talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will last as long as necessary, at least two or three hours, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
Earlier in the day, Hungarian Prime Minister Orban arrived in the Russian capital of Moscow for bilateral talks with President Putin.
Asked by Russia's VGTRK journalist Pavel Zarubin how long the talks between Orban and Putin were expected to last, Peskov replied: "As long as is necessary. But, I believe it will continue for two or three hours at least."
The talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the visiting Hungarian prime minister are being held behind closed doors.
Peskov told TASS earlier that the leaders will be joined by delegation members and continue the talks during a working lunch. If the need should arise, they will speak tete-a-tete later on, the Russian presidential spokesman added.
Each side has three participants, not counting the leaders of Russia and Hungary. Besides Putin, Russia is represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Kremlin Foreign Policy Aide Yury Ushakov and Kremlin Aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led the Russian delegation at the peaceful settlement talks with Ukraine in 2022. The Hungarian side is represented by Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto as well as other senior state officials.
Before the start of the meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested to Orban that they broach the topic of Ukraine, not just bilateral relations.
"I hope we will have the opportunity to exchange views on our bilateral relations in this difficult situation, and also, talk about the prospects for the biggest European crisis - I’m talking about Ukraine," Putin told the Hungarian premier.
Hungary currently holds the six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union. On July 2, Orban visited Kiev where he met with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelelnsky and suggested that Ukraine should announce a ceasefire. However, according to the Ukrainian presidential office, Kiev rejected the initiative.
The Hungarian premier explained that he was representing the European continent, which is interested in peace, something that can only be achieved through talks with Russia. Earlier, Zelensky banned negotiations with Moscow.
The Hungarian government has repeatedly highlighted the need to keep channels for communication with Russia open, particularly in order to search for ways to resolve the Ukrainian crisis.