(MENAFN) Ambassadors representing NATO member countries in Hungary recently held an unplanned meeting, prompted by apprehensions surrounding a recent encounter between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Beijing. The meeting, which took place on October 17 during China's Belt and Road Forum, marked the first face-to-face discussion between the two leaders since the onset of the conflict in Ukraine.

The gathering in Budapest included envoys from NATO member countries as well as Sweden, whose NATO membership is pending ratification by Turkey and Hungary. The diplomats convened to address "security concerns" stemming from the perceived deepening of relations between Moscow and Hungary, a European Union and NATO member. David Pressman, the United States ambassador to Hungary, emphasized the importance of the Hungarian government taking these "legitimate security concerns" seriously, expressing unease over the Putin-Orban meeting.

On the day of the meeting, Ambassador Pressman shared a photo on social media depicting Orban and Putin in a handshake, accompanied by a caption suggesting that Hungary's prime minister was aligning with Russia in a manner distinct from other allies. Responding to the United States ambassador's stance, Gergely Gulyas, Orban's chief of staff, asserted that determining Hungarian foreign policy is the prerogative of the Hungarian government, implying that Ambassador Pressman's assessment was beyond his jurisdiction.

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