Szijjarto announced his intention to continue energy cooperation with the Russian Federation

Hungary will not abandon cooperation with Russia in the energy sector and considers the European Commission's (EC) plan to abandon Russian energy sources harmful. This was announced on June 2 by Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto following a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"I told Sergey Lavrov that we would like to continue this cooperation, and he assured me that this is also Russia's goal. A long—term contractual framework for the supply of oil and gas exists, the infrastructure exists, and the Russians will continue to fulfill their contractual obligations," M1 TV channel quoted him as saying.

He stressed that Russian energy sources are of key importance for the Hungarian economy. The Hungarian Foreign Minister also thanked Lavrov for initiating the continuation of the Russian-Ukrainian peace talks in Istanbul.

"Hungary will not give up its position of peace supporters, we will not give up energy cooperation with Russia and will continue to support the peace plan of [US President] Donald Trump," Szijjarto added.

He noted that the countries of Western Europe and Ukraine do not want the conflict to end and are doing everything to disrupt attempts at a peaceful settlement. According to the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry, during the talks, Lavrov and Szijjarto stressed their interest in ending the confrontation in the European space as soon as possible.

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Earlier in the day, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that the conflict in Ukraine could drag on for a long time. He added that prolonging the conflict would lead to serious consequences for the security and economy of the European Union.

On May 27, Lavrov said that the West was in every way inciting Ukraine to continue the conflict with Russia. He also noted that he sees attempts by the EU to disrupt the negotiation process between Moscow and Kiev.