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Russian President Vladimir Putin handed over two prisoners of war to Hungary during a visit by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó to Moscow.
The two men, holding both Hungarian and Ukrainian nationality, had fought in the Ukrainian army and had been held in Russian captivity. Both boarded the Hungarian government’s aircraft shortly after Szijjártó concluded his talks with Putin.
On Tuesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had asked Putin for the release of Hungarian nationals during a telephone conversation. Later that day, Putin confirmed the decision during Szijjártó’s visit.
“These are citizens who have both Ukrainian and Hungarian citizenship. They were forcibly conscripted to the front, and we decided to allow them to take two people with them on the plane the minister arrived on and will return home on,” Putin said.
In 2023, Russia released 11 Hungarian nationals from captivity following a request by the Hungarian government.
Beyond the prisoner-of-war issue, the Hungarian delegation also discussed energy imports from Russia. Hungary is one of the last EU member states to continue importing pipeline oil and natural gas from Russia.
“Hungary has received a guarantee that Russia will deliver the natural gas and crude oil needed to supply our country at unchanged prices, despite the international energy crisis,” Szijjártó said in Moscow.
The Hungarian government has been a vocal critic of what it describes as the forced conscription of Hungarian nationals into the Ukrainian military.
Ukraine is home to around 100,000 ethnic Hungarians, concentrated in the Transcarpathian region, the majority of whom also hold Hungarian passports.
Budapest has a longstanding diplomatic dispute with Kyiv over the shutdown of the Druzhba oil pipeline and has consistently opposed Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union.
The country is also preparing for parliamentary elections in April, in which the war in Ukraine is expected to feature as a central campaign issue.