Russian president Vladimir Putin released two prisoners of war with Hungarian and Ukrainian citizenship and handed them over to Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto during a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday, March 4.
Putin claimed the men had been forcibly mobilized in Ukraine to fight.
“You can take them,” he said in a televised exchange after Szijjarto asked him to free the prisoners.
Putin said they would fly to Budapest on the minister’s plane.
According to Putin, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had raised the issue a day earlier in a phone call, asking for the release of dual citizens of Hungary and Ukraine whom Kyiv “forcibly mobilized.” “I have decided to release two people. And you will be able, as the prime minister requested, to take them with you directly onto the plane you came on and on which you will return to Budapest,” Putin said.
During talks in Moscow, Szijjártó also raised the Druzhba oil pipeline, accusing Ukraine of a “political blockade” of restarting oil flows and claiming Kyiv is linking a restart to demands for weapons and financial aid. He said Budapest has satellite images showing the pipeline is operational and that there are no technical or engineering reasons to keep it shut. The European Commission disputes that account, insisting it was Russia that damaged Druzhba.
Beyond Druzhba, the minister touched on broader energy issues, asserting the same people blocking the pipeline organized the 2022 attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, and calling it a “disgrace” that the EU has yet to conclude its investigation into what he termed an “act of state terrorism in the Baltic Sea.”
Putin, for his part, said Russian intelligence has information that Kyiv, with support from Western services, is preparing sabotage against the Blue Stream and TurkStream pipelines—analogous to the explosions on the Nord Streams. He said Moscow has informed Ankara. “This is a very dangerous game, especially today,” Putin said.
A day earlier, Putin spoke by phone with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who also requested the prisoners’ release.
Putin praised Hungary’s stance on Russia’s war against Ukraine as “balanced and independent,” stressing that Budapest fundamentally supports a diplomatic settlement to the conflict.
Orban is seen within the EU as the leader with the closest ties to the Kremlin; his last visit to Moscow was in November 2025.
To Moscow’s satisfaction, Orban regularly pushes back against Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its war against Ukraine.
By purchasing energy from the resource-rich country, he also helps fill its war chest, the dpa news agency noted.
During his meeting with Putin in Moscow, Szijjarto asked for guarantees on oil and gas deliveries from Russia. Putin assured him that Russia intends to remain a reliable energy supplier. He said not everything depends on Moscow but maintained that Russia is fulfilling what is within its control.
Hungary is currently not receiving oil via the Druzhba pipeline that transits Ukraine, as authorities in Kyiv say the line has been damaged.
In response, Hungary is blocking an EU loan for Ukraine worth 90 billion euros.
Responding to Hungary’s criticism last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that Russian oil has no place in the European market.
Ukraine has also regularly struck Russia’s oil infrastructure, aiming to cut the revenue Moscow needs to sustain its war machine and continue its armed aggression against its neighbor.
