Good morning,
Blinis, bromance, and bad taste could be one way to sum up Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán's public diplomacy in Moscow last Friday (28 November).
Blinis, because it turns out Orbán is a minor celebrity in Moscow's cafes, where he was snapped tieless and smiling after having earlier met Russian president Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin for three and a half hours.
Bromance because Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó felt so at home in Putin's palace that he sat in the Russian delegation's chairs to chat with Russia's foreign minister in a preamble to the Kremlin press briefing.
Also because Putin stroked Szijjártó's arm in a gesture reserved for him alone, compared to the Russian leader's solemn handshakes with the rest of Orbán's delegation - a recurring Szijjártó motif from previous meetings, which has been noted by foreign intelligence agencies, according to Hungarian media.
For their part, Putin and Orbán held hands for a full five seconds at what was their 14th meeting as leaders.
Speaking of a possible US-Russia summit in Budapest, Putin also called US president "Donald" Trump and "Viktor" Orbán by their first names in a chummy touch.
But if all that was meant to symbolise their "strong ... relationship", as Putin called it, then he and Orbán also awkwardly backed into each other at one point in the photo huddle, in what might embody their lack of grace.
It depends to be seen if Orbán gets his Trump-Putin summit in Budapest, or if that gives him the bump he might be hoping for ahead of 2026 elections in Hungary.
He spoke to press in Moscow mostly of wanting to keep buying Russian oil, even though it is a primary source of funding for Russian killing in Ukraine.
In any case, his Russia trip cost the Hungarian chief more derision from the EU centre.
Orbán spoke to Putin "without a European mandate", pointed out German chancellor Friedrich Merz last Friday.
Slovenian prime minister Robert Golob said "we do not expect any benefits ... from this [Moscow] visit".
It also cost Orbán a friend on the EU's populist right - the Polish president, Karol Nawrocki, who abruptly cancelled a meeting with the Hungarian leader in Budapest next week in protest.
Meanwhile, it wasn't clear if Orbán had caviar with his blinis at Zhivago, the Moscow diner where he posed for a selfie with a Russian lady.
But his salty appeasement of Russian aggression left a bad taste in my mouth.
And one can only hope it makes him a little more toxic the next time Orbán is looking for a handshake with Merz, Golob, or Nawrocki in front of cameras at the next EU summit in Brussels.
- Andrew Rettman, foreign-affairs editor
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