ISTANBUL 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Wednesday discussed the situations in both Syria and Ukraine in a phone call.

In the phone call, which the Kremlin said was held at the initiative of the Hungarian side, the leaders exchanged detailed views on Ukraine, where the Russian war started in February 2022.

A Russian statement said Orban expressed interest in facilitating a joint search for diplomatic paths to resolve the Ukraine war, taking into account his contacts with several Western leaders.

“For his part, Vladimir Putin outlined his fundamental assessments of the current developments around Ukraine and the destructive line of the Kyiv regime, which continues to exclude the possibility of peaceful settlement of the conflict,” the statement further said.

It added that Putin and Orban also discussed the tense situation in the Middle East, in the context of the recent developments in Syria.

Bashar Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia after anti-regime groups took control of Damascus on Sunday, signaling the collapse of the Baath Party regime, which had been in power in Syria since 1963.

Current issues of bilateral trade and economic cooperation were also discussed by both leaders.

“In particular, attention was paid to the further promotion of mutually beneficial projects in the energy sector,” it added.