'At your service': Hungary's Orban offered help to Putin, Bloomberg reports

BUDAPEST, April 7 (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister ‌Viktor Orban offered ​last ​year to help Russian President Vladimir Putin "in any way", such as by hosting a summit in Budapest to settle the war in Ukraine, Bloomberg News reported, citing ‌the transcript of a phone call.

A Hungarian government spokesman did not immediately respond ⁠to a request for comment and for the release of the transcript of an October 17 call between the ‌two leaders reviewed by Bloomberg but ‌not verified by Reuters.

There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin.

Orban, a eurosceptic nationalist in power since 2010, faces his toughest re-election bid of the past 16 years on April ​12.

Orban has fostered warm ties with Putin despite the Ukraine war, and maintained Hungary's heavy reliance on Russian oil and gas. Citing a dispute with Kyiv over a war-damaged oil ⁠pipeline, Orban has also blocked the implementation of a European Union loan to Ukraine agreed back in December.

The cordial conversation between ​Orban and Putin took place as U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to a second summit on the war in Ukraine to be hosted in the ​Hungarian capital.

In the phone call, Orban calls Putin a ‌friend, noting that their close ties date back to a 2009 meeting in St Petersburg.

"But yesterday our friendship rose to such a high level that I ⁠can help in any way — there is a story in our Hungarian picture books where a mouse helps a lion," he tells Putin according to the transcript. "I am ready to help immediately ... In any matter where ⁠I can be of assistance, I am at your service."

Putin tells Orban in response that he values their relations ​highly and says Budapest would be what he described as "perhaps the only European country that is an acceptable venue" for a possible meeting with Trump.

Hungary at the time said it would ensure that Putin, who faces ‌an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, which Orban's government is in the process of leaving, could enter the country for a summit ‌with the U.S. president.

Putin also tells Orban that he greatly appreciates his "independent and flexible" stance on the ⁠Ukraine crisis.

The publication of the transcript follows ‌the release of an audio ​clip by an investigative news outlet that featured Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov discussing EU sanctions.

(Reporting by Gergely SzakacsEditing by ‌Gareth Jones)

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