MOSCOW: Russia will free two Ukrainian-Hungarian nationals captured while fighting for Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban appealed for their release in a phone call.
In a meeting with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto in Moscow, Putin said the two soldiers were “forcibly conscripted” by Ukraine and that he personally made the decision to release them.
“As the prime minister requested, you will be able to take them with you on the plane you arrived on and the plane you will return to Budapest on,” Putin told Szijjarto.
Hungary is one of the few European countries to maintain close ties with Russia amid its Ukraine offensive and has consistently opposed military aid for Kyiv.
Ukraine is home to a large Hungarian minority, most of whom live in the western Zakarpattia region and hold dual citizenship.
The Russian defence ministry published a video last week purporting to show a dual Hungarian-Ukrainian citizen prisoner of war, alleging he had been forced to enlist in the Ukrainian army.
During their meeting, Szijjarto also urged Moscow not to raise energy prices, after fighting in the Middle East spurred by joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran sent markets into turmoil.
