MOSCOW, April 14 (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it was pleased that Hungarian Prime Minister-elect Peter Magyar seemed ready for pragmatic dialogue with Russia and would base its own position on the specific steps taken by his new government
Russian hardliners have mourned the defeat of Viktor Orban, a close partner of Moscow’s, who lost a weekend election to upstart centre-right rival Magyar. But the Kremlin quickly said it was ready for talks with the country’s new leadership.
“For now, we can note with satisfaction, as far as we understand, his (Magyar’s) willingness to engage in pragmatic dialogue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“In this instance, there is mutual willingness on our part, and we will then proceed to take our cue from the specific steps taken by the new Hungarian government.”
Russia sells oil and gas to Hungary and is building a new nuclear power plant south of Budapest. Orban was useful to Moscow because he often spoke out against EU sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine, opposed Kyiv’s bid to join the EU, and had blocked a 90-billion-euro ($105-billion) EU loan to Ukraine.
Magyar has combined pro-EU and pro-NATO rhetoric with a public recognition that he will need to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and continue to buy Russian oil and gas for now despite talk of diversifying and reviewing contracts.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; editing by Guy Faulconbridge/Andrew Osborn)
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