Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, meeting his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday, expressed hope for the long-term settlement of Hungarian-Russian relations.
Orban stressed that Hungary considers Russia a major military, political and economic power.
He emphasised that the talks would focus both on concrete issues and on efforts to lay the foundations for a new, 21st-century partnership of the two nations.
Putin welcomed the development of bilateral economic relations.
Noting Hungary’s forthcoming EU presidency during the first half of 2010, the Russian prime minister said he hoped that ties between Russia and the EU would develop smoothly during that period, too.
Among the key areas of cooperation, Putin mentioned energy supply, nuclear energy, transport and high-tech, including nanotechnology. He noted that Hungarians had invested two billion dollars in Russia while Russian investments in Hungary totalled 3 billion dollars.
After the welcoming ceremony, the two delegations started plenary talks.
According to WikiLeaks, they were talking about how to divide and conquer the rest of the world.