Putin speaks on phone with victorious Serbian, Hungarian leaders

MOSCOW

In separate phone calls, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic as well as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

According to a Kremlin statement, in a phone call with President Vucic, Putin congratulated the Serbian leader with winning Sunday’s presidential election, and on the success of the Serbian Progressive Party, led by Vucic, in the snap parliamentary polls.

"The presidents reaffirmed their shared intention to further develop the Russian-Serbian strategic partnership and expand trade and economic ties, including in energy," the statement said.

The two leaders exchanged views on current regional issues, including developments in Kosovo, and Putin also provided an update on talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives at Vucic's request, it said.

With Orban, Putin discussed Russian-Hungarian cooperation and ongoing Russia-Ukraine peace talks, a Kremlin statement said.

Putin "also gave principled assessments of the brutal and cynical provocation of the Kyiv regime on the city of Bucha," it said, referring to the discovery of mass civilian deaths blasted as a “war crime” by the West, but called fake news by the Kremlin.

Both Vucic and Orban won elections in Serbia and Hungary last weekend.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which started on Feb. 24, has drawn international outrage, with the EU, US, and Britain, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

At least 1,480 civilians have been killed in Ukraine and 2,195 injured, according to UN estimates, with the true figure feared to be far higher.

More than 4.24 million Ukrainians have fled to other countries, with millions more internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.