Orbán and delegation arrive in Moscow

Shortly after 11 a.m. Hungarian time, Viktor Orbán's plane landed at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport. A Facebook post by Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó revealed that Minister of Construction and Transport János Lázár and his deputy, Nándor Csepreghy, were also traveling with them.

Shortly after the arrival of the Hungarian government plane, a video uploaded to the Kremlin's Telegram channel showed Péter Szijjártó exchanging a few words with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov while waiting for the Russian President and the Hungarian Prime Minister to arrive.

In addition to Szijjártó and Lázár, Marcell Bíró, the Prime Minister's Chief Advisor on National Security, was also present at the press conference held before the negotiations. On the Russian side, alongside Putin, the President's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Deputy Prime Minister Aleksander Novak will participate in the negotiations. The 54-year-old politician, born in Donetsk, was minister of energy for many years and currently oversees fuel supplies, which are a key area for Russia in its war against Ukraine.

TASS also reported on the Hungarian Prime Minister's arrival, with the Russian news agency noting that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had previously confirmed that the Russian President would meet with the Hungarian Prime Minister in Moscow on November 28.

Orbán and his delegation left Budapest at 4 a.m., and before taking off, the Prime Minister gave an interview to the public media. In a video posted shortly before 5:30 a.m. entitled "Off to Moscow!", he talks, among other things, about why he is traveling to Moscow: in order to secure Hungary's energy supply for the winter and the coming year at an affordable price.

According to a statement by the Russian President's spokesperson, the Russian President's foreign policy advisor and Deputy Prime Minister Aleksander Novak will also participate in the talks between Orbán and Putin. The Kremlin's website points out that Putin has met with Orbán twelve times so far, most recently in July 2024.

Orbán is in Moscow a few weeks after his visit to Donald Trump and a few days before the American delegation is expected to meet with Putin next week to discuss the Americans' evolving Russian-Ukrainian peace plan. Friday's trip was first reported by VSquare journalist Szabolcs Panyi, and shortly thereafter Telex also learned about it, with Putin acknowledging on Thursday that there was a valid invitation in place. "If Prime Minister Orbán finds a way to accept our invitation, we will be happy to see him," he said. The head of the Hungarian government prepared for the trip by voicing his strong support for the American plan that favours the Kremlin.

János Lázár's presence is somewhat surprising, as he has not participated in the prime minister's previous trips to Moscow, but was there at the Orbán-Trump meeting in Washington.