Return to Transcripts main page

Connect the World

Putin to Speak Soon after Meeting with Orban; Ukraine Preparing for Possible Invasion; SNP's Ian Blackford Ejected by House of Commons Speaker; Putin: Hungary is Important Partner in Europe; Putin Speaks after Talks with Hungarian PM; Putin: Russia's Security Proposals Ignored by West. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired February 01, 2022 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Welcome back. For those of you just joining us, this is "Connect the World". And diplomacy again taking

center stage in what is this Ukraine situation in the balance and escalating standoff that much fear will turn into an invasion and even a

war.

Talks are happening on numerous fronts as we speak. We're waiting to hear from Russian President Vladimir Putin anytime now. He's been meeting with

the Prime Minister of Hungary.

Next hour British Prime Minister Boris Johnson due to speak in Ukraine meeting the President there and the top U.S. and Russian diplomats have

wrapped up a call. The State Department says Antony Blinken told Russia's Sergey Lavrov the U.S. is willing to keep up "substantive exchange".

We should note Moscow denies it's planning to invade Ukraine. Let's bring in our reporters Nic Robertson in Moscow, Kylie Atwood is at the U.S. State

Department where she has just come out of that Blinken briefing. Let's start with you. What else can you tell us about that call?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, listen, the State Department not being very explicit in terms of how much this phone

conversation has pushed the ball forward.

That readout that that we got from the State Department, as you said, Becky, said that the Secretary was very clear in saying that the United

States remains open to continuing diplomatic engagements to seeing how the U.S. and Russia can work together on issues of joint interest when it comes

to choose strategic stability, excuse me.

And also talked about the need for Russia, again, to de-escalate to withdraw its troops from the border from with Ukraine now, of course, the

Russians have continually said that what they are doing there is an out of the ordinary. So it does seem like the two sides are at least from this

conversation, speaking past one another right now, and there isn't a whole lot of forward momentum on the diplomatic side.

Now, we know that yesterday, the State Department received a written response from Russia, but they called it a follow up from Russia. They're

saying it's not the formal response that Russia is giving them to the written response that the United States provided last week.

So we're still waiting for Russia to put some meat on the bone with regard to responding to the Biden Administration here. And of course, folks in

this building are watching closely to see what President Putin has to say today.

Because they have said over the last few days that really nothing matters, that Russian officials are saying, except for what President Putin is

saying and except for the decisions that he is going to make.

ANDERSON: And we are clearly Kiley, you are right, waiting to hear from the man of the moment as it were. President Putin, it seems does hold all the

cards at this point. Thank you for your perspective from the State Department.

Nic, we have absolutely no idea at this point. Let's be quite frank, what President Putin might say. He is expected to address the press in the room

that we are looking at on our screens now when he holds a press conference with his Hungarian counterpart. You've been speaking to citizens there in

Moscow. What's the public sentiment over all of this?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, I think they're aware of what's going on the television. They're aware of some of the sort

of threat of war in Ukraine. But for so many people, they're really not listening. This is not a big thing in their lives and in a way that creates

a sort of a bigger political space for President Putin to do what he wants.

The expectations are not high; it would be perhaps slightly hard for him to go to war, but also potentially easy to try to settle for less than he is

so publicly stated with the international community. But very interesting to see how the narrative on state TV contrasts with the public's perception

here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice over): On Russia, the state leading Ukrainian soldiers train on American anti-tank weapons as pro-Russian separatists from Donbas

in Ukraine, begs Moscow to send them weapons. The state seems to be readying the nation for a potential conflict. But are Russians listening?

In Moscow's Gorky Park state media gets a cold shoulder. I try not to watch the news she says. I think they're escalating it a lot. I believe very

little of what they're showing. What the state media are saying there's hardly any truth in it he says, it's just information that plays into

someone's hands.

[11:05:00]

ROBERTSON (voice over): Even so people are worrying. Of course we are worried, she says, we hope that everything will settle down. We wish the

Ukrainians well, there are brothers. What can we do, she says, nothing depends on us absolutely nothing. So everything is possible.

Everyone here is waiting for President Putin to make his next move. One thing he doesn't seem to need to worry about is panic that home. Outside

the Kremlin, in Moscow's fabled Red Square, a winter funfair to cheer Russians through the frigid months, straddles the historic military parade

ground.

Realities of war feel distant. I think there will be no war, she says, our president who we love will not allow war between our states. We love

Ukraine. I'm from Ukraine, she says, I don't think there'll be war, because we are a friendly country.

And Russia and Ukraine are fraternal peoples. Even the threat of Western sanctions, despite Russia's ruble, having a rough ride against the dollar

recently, is being shrugged off. Well, sanctions don't scare us, she says, our homeland is so rich, we'll figure it out.

We ordinary people, we will not be affected, he says, there will be no sanctions on us. Of course, food becomes more expensive, she says, but I'll

just earn more. But optimism here belies the pressures on Putin. If diplomacy fails, you'll have a heavy lift, prepping Russia's people for the

pain that could come their way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: And that notion that he may need to find a way to walk back from some of the very strong demands made at the beginning of all of this is

perhaps easier for President Putin, because he has such a sort of a low threshold with the public at the moment.

Everyone of course, is still waiting to see what he says after his meeting with Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Interesting note here we are getting a

bit more of a detailed readout from the foreign minister on television at the moment here.

Sergey Lavrov, obviously just out of his phone conversation with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, again, making the point is made before that the

U.S. hasn't delivered on what they call the indivisibility of security.

The security of one nation can't impinge on the security of a neighboring nation. Their central point about NATO its expansion, Ukraine's membership

of NATO, all of that has been negative years talking about, you know, where they can have common ground for diplomacy.

And I think we got a hint of that, in the readout from Secretary of State Antony Blinken. But he does seem to be getting on to a little bit of detail

in topics about which missile systems and where they are that give Russia the most cause for concern. Are we hearing some more detail? Are we getting

further down the track of diplomacy? It's all on President Putin.

ANDERSON: And we await his press conference. The room is ready. We await the two gentlemen to get in front of those microphones. Thank you, Nic.

Well, that's the situation in Moscow. CNN's Sam Kylie is in Kyiv with a look at how Ukraine is preparing for the possibility of an invasion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): An abandoned asphalt factory near Kyiv is now a training ground for civilians

who volunteered to fight off the possible Russian invasion. They're outnumbered here by journalists and armed at best with pellet guns. They

know they'll be outmatched by Moscow's military machines. But they aren't keen.

SERGIY CHURNIK, CLINICAL RESEARCHER AND VOLUNTEER: We have a crucial moment for our country. We have really big risk that Russian invasion might occur

pretty soon. So that's why even civilians have to be ready.

KILEY (voice over): These men believe that it's their country's democracy, that Vladimir Putin fears more than a threat posed by European Union NATO

membership.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the Putin, Russia, all Russian citizens are completely slaves. He feels as a threat because Ukrainians gave to Russians

and below Russians a bad example. We show to our neighbors how each citizen of - will must defend his social and national rights.

[11:10:00]

KILEY (voice over): You wouldn't know that Ukraine's government says that Russia has at least 127,000 troops masked on three sides of the country

here in the capital, where there are no signs of impending war. And in the poorer districts where people hope whatever they can to get by, the mood is

similar.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are relaxed although for summer, I would say not. It depends on the circles you communicate in. If someone in your

family is from the military or the police, it's a completely different mood.

KILEY (on camera): But aged air raid shelters are being opened just in case. The Ukrainian government is appealing to its population for calm but

at the same time dusting off the Soviet era bunkers because there is a threat to a young country's democracy.

KILEY (voice over): The shelter can house about 300 people. It even has a hand cranked air filtration system. Kyiv has the capacity to shelter 2.8

million of the estimated 3 million residents in 5000 bunkers and in the metro system.

It's an irony last on no one here that this shelter was built in 1956 to protect against NATO striking Russia and the Soviet Union. Now it's

offering shelter against a possible attack by Russia. Sam Kiley, CNN, Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: So just Vladimir Putin hold the cards here, well, former CNN Moscow Bureau Chief Nathan Hodge, with a deep dive looking at Mr. Putin's

"Master Plan" and he looks at whether the Cold War could heat up. Read his analysis and more on your app Or@cnn.com.

Well, this is "Connect the World", I'm Becky Anderson. It's 10 past eight here in the UAE. Still ahead, a damning report that accuses Israel's of

partite I'll talk to a top official from Amnesty International about their latest report and we'll hear what Israel is saying about it.

Plus, Boris Johnson couldn't get to Ukraine fast enough. It seems the British Prime Minister is that talk about the Russia standoff, but he also

leaves behind a world of trouble. At home I will be talking with one of his fiercest critics, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, the British Prime Minister is now in Ukraine. And we expect to hear from Boris Johnson live at the top of the hour along with the

Ukrainian President on the Russian standoff.

Critics say his trip to Kyiv couldn't come at a better time for the embattled prime minister. After all, the fallout from the so called party

gate scandal has been threatening his political future back home especially after the release of part of what was a damning report by top civil servant

Sue Gray.

And a police inquiry is currently ongoing. My next guest is no fan of Boris Johnson and no effort to hide his feelings during what was Monday's raucous

day at the mother of all Parliaments'.

There was high drama and plenty of political theater before the Scottish National parties Westminster leader Ian Blackford got himself ejected from

the House of Commons. Let's just have a listen to this exchange.

[11:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNDSAY HOYLE, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS: Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has misled that. Unless you withdraw, I love to stop and not stop

God just withdraw the words. I am standing up for my constituents that know that this prime minister has lied and misled to have - misled I'll give you

one more chance as leader of the SMP, I don't want to have to throw you out. I want to give you these jumps please.

IAN BLACKFORD, SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY'S WESTMINSTER LEADER: Please to power that man has listed the house.

HOYLE: I'm - and I'm sorry that leader of the party has not got the decency just withdraw those words, in order that this debate can be represented by

all political leaders.

BLACKFORD: Not my fault if the prime minister can be - the truth.

HOYLE: Under the power given to me by standing order number 43 - the Honorable Member to withdraw immediately from the house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Ian Blackford joins me now live from London, Good to have you, Sir. You told the House of Commons you were "speaking truth to power", did

you go there yesterday, looking to get kicked out?

BLACKFORD: No, not at all. I went there to do my job to speak up for my constituents to lead my party. And speak for the many millions of people in

the United Kingdom that feel that this is a prime minister that has led the House of Commons that has liked those gardens, and has effectively put

himself in the position that he has to resign because of his behavior.

And I go back to November; I did lay down a motion of censure on the Prime Minister where within the context of that debate, it was quite permissible

to lay out the circumstances where he'd lied when he misled the house.

And in fact, I did that in Prime Minister's questions of last week as well, so that I respect the office of the speaker the job that he has to do. But

I have to see, many people feel angered on the back of the Sur Gray report, that the Prime Minister is not accepting responsibility.

And if you consider what we know, and let's remember that much of the damaging detail hasn't yet been made public because of the Metropolitan

Police inquiry. But it's worth dwelling on that Prime Minister that's been investigated by the police.

And the police are looking at events, around 12 different parties on eight different days around the prime minister's office and flat and this is

absolutely unprecedented. But it's beyond all reasonable doubt that the Prime Minister did lie, he said, on the eighth of December in the chamber

that the parties didn't take place.

And of course, what he's subsequently admitted to as being at these events where Brent was taken if they could use the expression if it walks like a

duck, if it quacks like a duck, it's a duck. These were parties.

And therefore this is a prime minister that is duty bound. This is important is duty bound under a court that is misled the house, that it

corrects the record at the earliest opportunity, and then resigns.

ANDERSON: Why then were you told to retract those comments by the speaker of the house? If indeed you have evidence to suggest that he has lied and

misled the house briefly, for our international viewers.

BLACKFORD: I know this sounds irrational, but it's deemed that these words that aren't parliamentary, so the prime minister can lie. And I don't know

how much of the debate you saw yesterday.

The Prime Minister actually used a smear against the Labor leader accused of effectively covering up any prosecution of Jimmy Savile. It was

extraordinary. So the Prime Minister is protected by the things that he does.

But when I point out what everyone knows that the Prime Minister lied, and has misled the house, I'm in the wrong. One thing I will say is that

although the speaker went through the process of seeking to --obey the rule didn't actually follow through with it because I left the chamber of --, so

it wasn't in the end suspended or removed from the house.

ANDERSON: Well, you will have heard before you chose to leave the chamber. The Prime Minister says sorry, but it's time to move on and get on with

leaving the country.

Despite calls from you and others, he hasn't resigned. No sign yet of a no confidence vote. And like it or not his future lie squarely in the hands of

Tory MPs at this point and not in the hands of the opposition yourself or indeed the British public.

[11:20:00]

ANDERSON: He certainly seems to have fended off his doubters in his party at this point. So you are left waiting on the Metropolitan Police probe

into the so called party gate and they have already said the allegations will not amount to a criminal investigation.

So I put it to you, sir, this is a prime minister; you are likely to have to work with going forward, is he not?

BLACKFORD: No, I think in the end, it will be the case that Tory MPs will remove this ban that's interesting that you could work with because it's

impossible to work with. It doesn't work with opposition parties. It doesn't work with the devolved governments in Edinburgh, Belfast and

Cardiff.

And we've been talking when your program about the situation in Ukraine. And I want to applaud the Defense Secretary because he has made sure that

both I and the leader of the Labor Party have been consulted on an external basis with the security implications of what is going on.

But there is no relationship between us and the prime minister's office that is unforgivable. And I did make reference yesterday in the chamber to

the way that the previous Prime Minister Theresa May behaves.

There are times where we need to work together, but the Prime Minister sees us as the enemy, it's impossible to work with him. And you know, there's

been a number of dangerous allegations that have come out over the course of the last few days at Sunday Times reported that he's no longer allowed

to have any red box which you would normally take with him to his flat, important security papers because he can't be trusted not to leave them

lying around.

This is a man that's a threat to our democracy. And I appeal to Conservative MPs to recognize that he's behaved in a way his, what has

happened is he's brought shame to the office of Prime Minister.

And I'm appealing to them to recognize, but all of us that this is, ultimately that has to be removed from office. They have that power, they

should exercise that power. Let's get back to politics as someone that will not demean the office of Prime Minister than the United Kingdom.

ANDERSON: Ian Blackford is the leader of the SNP at Westminster. So it's good to have you with us. As you and I speak we are running some images, as

you send to CNN of the Prime Minister and his Ukrainian counterpart meeting in Kyiv.

Thank you, sir. Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar right now. The U.S. will know sooner rather than later

whether the Iran nuclear deal can be salvaged now.

This is according to a U.S. State Department officially says the latest round of talks in Vienna were among the most intensive yet the official

cited progress while cautioning significant gaps remain.

U.S. President Joe Biden is praising a $20 billion deal between Qatar Airways group and Boeing. The deal was signed at the White House during a

visit by the Emir of Qatar. President Biden also announcing he is going to designate Qatar as a major non NATO ally.

A human rights group is protesting against China out of the Winter Olympics on Monday. The committee for freedom in Hong Kong projected several images

onto the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC denouncing China's clamp down on Hong Kong.

While China hoping the world will focus squarely on the spectacle of the games and not its rocky journey to hosting them. CNN's David Culver breaks

down the global tensions surrounding this year's Winter Olympics.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Beijing is counting down to the Winter Games, its second Olympics taking place amidst frigid

geopolitical tensions and a raging pandemic.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: This is the largest regularly scheduled peacetime gathering of the world. And yet there can be no

gathering.

CULVER (on camera): What's likely to be lost in these games is the fact that sporting events are taking place. That's because in the years leading

up, China has faced growing outside pressures, and domestically, it's zero COVID policy is proving increasingly difficult to stick to.

CULVER (voice over): Seven years ago, Beijing won the 2022 Olympic bid; the first city to host both a summer and winter games, but the buildup came as

China's relations with the West rapidly fell apart.

Under an increasingly powerful supreme ruler Xi Jinping, China is on a drastically different path than what the West had hope. Cooperation

replaced by confrontation on multiple fronts from a trade war to threat of an actual war in the South China Sea.

In Hong Kong, Beijing quickly squashed pro-democracy protests, and it is now mounting pressure on Taiwan pushing for the self-governing democracy to

fall under Beijing's control. Then there are the widespread allegations of human rights abuses. CNNs traveled to the far western region of Xinjiang.

It's here the U.S. and other countries accused China of committing genocide against its ethnic Uighur population.

[11:25:00]

CULVER (voice over): China has repeatedly denied that it's detained and tortured the Muslim minority and called the accusations politically

motivated lies. But that has not silence to the west, the U.S., UK, Australia and Canada, among the countries protesting through a diplomatic

boycott of the Beijing Olympics.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The Biden Administration will not send any diplomatic or official representation to the Beijing 2022 Winter

Olympics.

CULVER (voice over): The diplomatic boycott coinciding with the case of Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, the former Olympian briefly disappeared in

November after she accused a retired national leader of pressuring her intersects.

It just so happens to be the same official who led Beijing's bid for the 2022 games. Amid a growing global outcry, Peng has since resurfaced and

multiple state media reports denying she made the accusation.

Some have accused the International Olympic Committee of being complicit in China's control over Peng story as its President Thomas Bach tried to

reassure the world of Peng's wellbeing after two video calls with her, the IOC advocating for silent diplomacy to better handle the matter. Bach, now

in Beijing is expected to meet with Peng soon.

CULVER (on camera): But that meeting happening behind closed doors inside the so called closed loop. That's the Olympic bubble holding the athletes

the personnel the incoming media kept separate from the rest of China. This as the number of new COVID-19 cases continues to rise and spread across the

mainland.

CULVER (voice over): China facing a renewed challenge to halt this latest surge, snap lockdowns, math testing contact tracing, all of it stepped up

as the country works to show its superiority and containing the virus.

State media is continuing to label the virus as an important threat, even dating back to the initial outbreak in Wuhan, a consistent propaganda

effort to deflect blame and refocus global attention on what is supposed to be a spectacular and unifying event.

And threatening to cast a darker shadow over these games growing tensions between Russia and Ukraine, with Russian President Vladimir Putin expected

to meet President Xi on the sidelines of the opening ceremony, these Olympics plain out amidst an increasingly divided world. David Culver, CNN,

Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well later relentless calls and unbearable conditions. I want to get you a glimpse of life inside a Syrian refugee camp during one of the

country's harshest winters in decades. First up though Amnesty International's scathing report accusing Israel's government of apartheid,

I talked to Amnesty's Secretary General and we get some response from the Israelis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: President Putin speaking now, let's listen him.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: To collect all the questions which we applaud for over five minutes hours. All of the aspects of our bilateral

relations and this is the first our meeting since our meeting in Budapest in 2019.

We also discussed a number of regional and international problems. I will underline that Hungary is our important partner in Europe. And I would like

to point out that our trade - by the results of the 11 months of the last year was up by 30 percent and direct foreign investments were more than $1

billion.

Given our 14 mutual committers --, we have discussed joint projects in various areas of activities. And the main focus of our relations is energy.

[11:30:00]

PUTIN: We provide for 45 percent of supplies of all country and 85 percent of gas. We have concluded new agreements for gas supply, until 20

statistics. And we were able to supply gas at the prices which are significantly lower than the spot prices for gas in Europe.

Hungary consistently proved to be a reliable partner in the transit of the Russian gas into Europe. And we plan to continue to increase our gas supply

during this transitional period for introducing green energy sources.

We produce every year more than 500,000 tons of oil and in last year with the help of Hungary, we started a new strategic project in Kama region. And

we also help to build a new unit in the Qatar nuclear power plant, which will increase the output of energy, this power plant.

We also successfully cultivated in building a railway carriages to supply it in the framework of the contract with Egypt. And we plan to build 700

railway carriages more and this means a lot of jobs for our people. We also discuss the transit of the cargoes from China to Russia, and Hungary to

other European countries and Russia and Hungary, closer cooperation in a production of medicines.

And as you know, Hungary was the first country in Europe which approved the Russian vaccine and started using it. And also recognize the Russian

vaccination certificate. We supplied also to million dollars of vaccine.

We also are now working on supplying Sputnik Light vaccine, which can also be a license to other manufacturers. Other successful project is the

participation of - a pharmaceutical company in the modernization of pharmaceutical plant in --.

And during our negotiations, we paid attention to the area of humanitarian cooperation; we work together within the framework of the cultural

development program till 2029. Last year, we carried out a year of mutual culture. We organize exhibitions, concerts and other events. I would like

to especially thank the Hungarian party for the support in carrying out Expo 23.

And as you know that our country is a constant participant of such exhibitions since 1851, but we have never carried out such exhibitions in

our country. And we hope to have this opportunity in Moscow, one of the most dynamically developing cities in the world. When considering

international problems we touched upon the relations between Russia and the European Union.

[11:35:00]

PUTIN: And obviously, we have discussed the problems of the Ukrainian conflict, the situation in Ukraine, and also in the area of human rights

and violation of human rights which have systematic character over there.

And you know that European Union puts a lot of efforts to resolve this issue. We also discussed the Russian proposals to the United States to

provide the guarantees of the European security.

We have analyzed the written answer from the United States, which we have received on the 26th, of January, but I have informed, Mr. Prime Minister

that our main proposals were ignored, we have not seen.

The return of the military infrastructure of the NATO in Europe to the location is to the line of 1997 when this agreement was assigned. The case

is not just to provide somebody a choice to participate in any alliance.

But another part of this obligation is that you don't have to allow securing once safety and security at the expense of another. But I would

like also to thank Prime Minister for our productive work, and I believe that our further actions will strengthen our mutual relations.

VIKTOR ORBAN, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER: The choreography of this meeting was rather strange. I have never sat at such a long table in my life. But

the distance was compensated by the depth and extent of our discussions.

We have been working together for 13 years; the current meeting was the 12th that we have met. And in this International situation, clearly, this

was the most important meeting of all.

I'm looking at my current visit as a Peace Mission. Because I was able to tell, Mr. President, that the EU is unified, united, and that is not one EU

leader who would want any kind of conflict with Russia, particularly is this true for us Central Europeans.

I was able to tell Mr. President, that we interpret history. So that when there is a conflict between East and West, Central Europe was always a

loser. During the Cold War years, it was meant a lot of bitterness and hardship for us.

Therefore, Hungarians are generally central Europeans are interested in decreasing the tension between East and West and to do absolutely

everything. That's the tension decreases, and not to get back to the cold war situation.

Since we are in this tense situation, in order not to further escalate, this is very important to conduct negotiations. And I really welcome that

Russia and the Western Allies are talking to each other, there are dialogues.

And I asked Mr. President, and this is the same that we tell our allies that they should continue with these negotiations. And we urge them to use

every diplomatic methods and means possible to alleviate the situation. What we can offer is the Hungarian model that Russian politics has a

Hungarian model.

[11:40:00]

ORBAN: Hungary is a member of the NATO and also the EU. And at the same time, we are able to maintain excellent contacts with Russia. And it's true

that it's necessary that we have mutual respect towards each other.

We always received this from Russia, and we extend the same to Russia and its leader. Although last year was very difficult because of the pandemic,

this was however, the most successful year in the history of our cooperation, we managed to overcome two huge obstacles in our operations.

One is the pandemic, the pandemic, we needed a vaccine and as a result of the decision of Russia, people are able to use and vaccinate 900,000

Hungarians with the Russian vaccine. The second question is the energy crisis.

And, again, thanks to Mr. President, that the long term gas supply agreement has been extended, as it turned out that its value of these long

term contract is going to be very high. So we should increase this rather than the other way around.

And what I asked Mr. President and what he told me that we can continue with negotiations that we should increase the Russians gas supplies to

Hungary. And further negotiations are going to be conducted; big vaccine manufacturing plant is going to be introduced.

And I hope that we will be able to agree on also manufacturing the Sputnik vaccine in terms of the power plant. Once we have the last permissions,

then the investment is going to automatically step over into the second phase.

And this is going to be the most decisive step towards becoming independent in terms of energy supplies. And important also that is that it should be

climate neutral in the future. So I am grateful to Mr. President to have a joint venture with a Russian Hungarian joint venture.

And the objective is that there's a huge container terminal of the Ukrainian border, as the geographic position of Hungary is very favorable,

the goods from direction east towards the EU, so that is a very important point.

And finally, I asked Mr. President to make it possible that there should be Russian passenger planes to Hungary. Since these planes currently are at

100 percent capacity, there would be a lot more Russian tourists coming to Hungary, if there were more flights.

I was given a promise to that. And I asked that from cutting - board, there should be direct flights to Budapest and again, further negotiations have

been promised in this regard as well.

So I would like to emphasize that you heard from Mr. President as well, we had very constructive balance, a friendly contact a bit each other and this

is what we hope for the future as well. So again, thank you very much for this opportunity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, two questions for each party.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are they able to improve the energy supplies to Hungary, both in terms of gas and also in nuclear?

PUTIN: Mr. Prime Minister has stated a number of questions regarding the extension of our collaboration in relation to adventure in various aspects

in a supply of oil and gas and also in nuclear power sector, in the expansion of our cooperation in agricultural production and industry.

[11:45:00]

PUTIN: Before meeting, Mr. Prime Minister, I made a contact with our leaders of various industries. And almost taught all questions put forward

by Mr. Prime Minister, we have got positive answers.

If we speak about a supply of gas and increased by 1 billion cubic meters per year, I think that it will not be a big problem for us. We understand

that the volume of gas in the underground gas storage facilities in Europe decreased by about 40 percent.

And it may cause some problems to our European problems are not for Hungary, because we have agreed upon the additional volumes over gas. This

same relates to the by passer of Budapest.

And I believe that we shall always solve this problem as well. I have spoken to our national railway company and probably will get some

additional funding to build a bypass railroad around Budapest.

It also relates to the area of nuclear power usage and provisional nuclear fuel training of Hungarian specialists. And I am completely agreed to the

prime minister that our almost five hours long negotiations was very successful, were discussed agriculture in from various points of view. And

also we have discussed the solution of energy questions.

ORBAN: In Western Europe, the price of gas and electricity is, has increased about to three fold. That's for the households. So this is a

serious challenge for the families, one there's one exception, but this didn't happen, and this is Hungary.

In Hungary for many years, we have been introducing a decrease of the utilities in households and that's gas that is a cheap supply to the

Hungarians and if there is no Russian gas, then we are not able to provide this.

So therefore, if we can agree this is very important for all Hungarian households and we are very close to the agreement that to get the

guaranteed annual supply should be 1 billion more.

So with this, we would ensure that the energy supplies are safe for Hungary. And with the - nuclear plant, we can ensure that by 2030, 90

percent of the energy would not come from fossil sources. And with this cooperation and without - there is no successful energy politics for

Hungary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Interfax agency, you mentioned a fight against Coronavirus and I would like to know when we can wait, expect the

production manufacturing of Sputnik Light in Hungary and when Sputnik Light will be supplied to Hungary.

PUTIN: If you allow I will start. As far as I understand on a political level, we don't have any problems. Hungary was the first European country

which acquired Sputnik.

And now we carry on negotiations really garden Sputnik Light which could be used as a booster vaccine for people who have been already vaccinated and

we can now discuss the issue of manufacturing.

[11:50:00]

ANDERSON: OK. We will continue to monitor this press conference. This press conference that has been described by one expert as a loyalty test for the

Hungarian Prime Minister, the premise of that argument being that the Right Wing, Viktor Orban, could hand Putin the foreign policy victory by showing

that the EU and NATO are divided.

And while Orban called for de-escalation, it was a carefully worded appeal for all parties, including the West to allow for dialogue. What do we learn

from President Putin? The man of the moment, as it were, there are those including an analysis piece on CNN suggesting that he really holds all the

cards at this point.

And this is certainly the first time that we have heard from the Russian president in weeks. We've got Nic Robertson standing by in Moscow, Melissa

Bell is in Kyiv. Nic, you were listening in and what do we learn?

ROBERTSON: That Putin is saying what some of his officials have said, specifically, as his foreign minister has said; he didn't lay out an answer

to the United States letter last week. That's a response that is still yet to come.

It's a position that's being considered. But what he made clear was, and it comes from him now and not just his lower ranking officials, that Russia

hasn't got the response that it wanted for the United States or NATO, that there are no guarantees that NATO won't expand the answer to Russia's

demand proposal that NATO go back to its 1997 levels.

That's not there, either. And he also expressed his concern that NATO's answer to the positioning of certain missile systems as he called them,

that was also the answer he felt that had been given was a no, he's given us no inkling of what his response is going to be.

So I think that was sort of significant takeaway. We've heard it from others, but now we've heard it from him. And I think there was an

interesting moment in there, where he talked about the gas deal with Hungary.

85 percent of Hungary's gas was said there at the press conference comes from Russia, that there's a deal through to 2036. That's pretty much as

long as President Putin is going to be in office, that's a pretty long deal. And that the gas being sold on that deal to Hungary, and President

Putin made this point is below the market rate. And it indicated that this was because he feels favorable to Viktor Orban.

And to Hungary, you know, in a way that is an object lesson to other European nations, you will get a lot of gas; you'll get it cheap, if you

are a good friend of Russia. And of course, that's everything that's in stake in Russia's eyes at the moment that European Union and NATO

specifically is acting against Russia's interest is not being friendly.

And therefore, we can perhaps draw our own conclusion that's reading between the lines, but that's what we heard from President Putin just now.

ANDERSON: And Melissa, if this was an effort on the part of the Russian president to show that he has friends in Europe, and that Europe is a

fractured, divided group.

And I talk about Europe there as sort of, you know, extend that to, are there some division between individual European countries and the U.S. and

NATO? Did he - that to be the effort? Was he successful?

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is what he tends to do at this time, as you said, Viktor Orban choosing his words very carefully. This is, after

all, a lead the leader of a country that is once a member of the European Union.

And NATO that in the past, Becky has chosen to side with Russia on questions of Ukraine's moving closer towards NATO back in 2019, for

instance, famously not giving his support to a statement by NATO ambassadors that would have allowed for that --.

Instead, what we've seen these last few weeks is a Hungarian leader, that's gone. The other way, being one of those European countries when there's

NATO countries that have accepted the idea of American and NATO troops being positioned within its borders, up to thousand in Romania, Bulgaria

and Hungary.

And that has marked an important shift for Viktor Orban away from Moscow and towards at NATO. So it was very interesting to see what choice of words

we would hear from him today, they were carefully picked it was carefully navigated.

[11:55:00]

BELL: And he explained that for Central Europe, being caught between a cold periods in the relationship between the West and Russia is always

complicated. And therefore they're looking at de-escalation and then moving on very quickly to those bilateral questions of cooperation.

But this was a difficult choice of words, no doubt for him to make. And I think that no doubt Vladimir Putin failed in that respect to mark any clear

divide between Viktor Orban and European allies and NATO allies.

But again, he has been one of those few coalition of the willing, as it's been called by some American officials that have gone so far where other

NATO allies have been more reticent to accept the idea of extra troops on their soil over the coming weeks and months, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes, fascinating. And just back to you briefly, we've got about 90 seconds, Nic. From President Putin, it is already clear that Russia's

fundamental concerns have been ignored.

NATO refers to the right of countries to choose freely, but you cannot strengthen someone security at the expense of others. You know, we've heard

this argument before and we are likely to hear it again. How long does this standoff as it were, go on briefly?

ROBERTSON: Well, a short space of time is what Russia's pushing for. Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, the weekend said he'd sent an urgent

demand on the question; you just raised the security of one nation affecting the security of another.

It's an urgent demand over the weekend to NATO and the OSCE. And what Russia is referring to here is an agreement of the OSCE Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe. That says one nation security can't impinge on the security of another nation.

And they're saying essentially, the United States you signed up for that. What's your position on that? But you know, conversely, NATO was saying,

there are a number of agreements about NATO, NATO's disposition, the right of nations to join NATO, the freedom of nations to do that.

NATO stance in the - in Europe is translate the meaning of it, translating - all things that Russia has signed up to, in the past, not a member of

NATO, but a signatory to agreements to, you know, to conversations about this. So this is what President Putin is getting back there.

ANDERSON: Nic, I'm going to stop you there. There is a question on Ukraine and to President Putin as we speak. I think the Hungarian Prime Minister is

going to take it on, let's just listen in again.

ORBAN: The differences are also significant. The whole world could be able to see Russia's needs. And it's also clear that the response is not given

to that the Russian security needs and the abilities of the NATO members.

So these two are still far away from each other, however, it is not impossible to bridge these differences. Today, I was able to be ascertained

that the differences can be overcome.

It is possible to have agreements that will guarantee peace guarantee the security of Russia and it's acceptable to NATO as well. This is possible

and I hope that in the next days, weeks this agreement will be achieved in the negotiations.

PUTIN: The logics of our behavior of our proposals as you know, we have been promised not to advance the structure of NATO eastwards. Everybody

knows about it. Today we see where NATO is, Poland, Romania, Baltic States.

They said one thing and have done another thing. They just deceived us. OK. The United States accepted from the agreement about anti-missile defense.

We tried to persuade them because this is one of the fundamental agreements for the International Security and now anti-missile and stations are in the

Eastern Europe.

END