Putin Turns on His Former Ally as He Brands Hungary 'Unfriendly Nation'

The Russian ambassador to Budapest has explained why Hungary has been mentioned in a group of what Moscow considers to be "unfriendly countries" despite leaders Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán's amicable relationship.

The Russian government approved this month a list of foreign states and territories that it said had committed "unfriendly actions against Russia, its companies and citizens," state-run news agency TASS reported.

Those which have fallen out of favor with Moscow are states which have condemned Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and have been at the forefront of sanctions imposed on Russia. On the list were countries including the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and those in the European Union, as well as other European states.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán enjoys good relations with Vladimir Putin. He has pushed back against EU sanctions and tried to thwart NATO's military support of Kyiv. While Russia has restricted gas supplies to other European countries, it has agreed to increase its deliveries of fuel to Hungary, according to Russian state media.

Last week, Orbán's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, said that Hungary would not arrest Putin if he came to the country, despite being a signatory to the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court (ICC) which issued an arrest warrant for the Russian leader on March 17 for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

But as a member of the EU which has acted as a bloc in punishing Russia with sanctions, Hungary is on Moscow's blacklist. Russia's envoy to Budapest, Yevgeny Stanislavov, insisted "the channels of dialogue" would be kept "open," though.

"Hungary has signed all the anti-Russian sanctions packages of Brussels and is forced to strictly comply with them," Stanislavov told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti on Thursday. "That is why it is classified as a country unfriendly to Russia, against which our retaliatory measures can be applied."

However, he said that Moscow was "optimistic" that there would be "constructive interaction with Hungary."

"Budapest demonstrates a pragmatic position, which is not going to give up even under pressure from its allies in the EU and NATO," he added.

A presidential decree by Putin has temporarily allowed the Russian government, companies and citizens to temporarily pay foreign currency debts owed to overseas creditors from "unfriendly countries" in roubles.

"Welcome to the club, dear friends! We are ready to share our know-how with you, as we are one of the two the longest-serving members," tweeted Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský about the list on Thursday.

Newsweek reached out to the Hungarian foreign ministry via email for comment.