Putin Ally Signs Nuclear Deal With NATO Member

Belarus on Wednesday signed a nuclear deal with Hungary, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) following a bilateral meeting.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a statement that the accord will see Belarus assist his country in building Hungary's second nuclear plant, the PAK 2 reactor, a 12.5-billion-euro ($13.5 billion) project which has been under construction by Russian state-owned firm Rosatom for a decade.

"Of great importance is the agreement signed here today on nuclear energy cooperation, which allows us to use the experiences Belarus gained here while constructing reactors with a similar technology," Szijjarto said in Minsk following a meeting with Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik, Reuters reported.

State-owned Belarusian news agency BelTA reported Wednesday that the pair discussed cooperation in nuclear energy during their meeting.

Both countries signed a road map for cooperation between their nuclear power plants which defines the key areas of work to be carried out by Belarusian and Hungarian nuclear scientists between 2024 and 2025. This includes the training of personnel, scheduled maintenance and radioactive waste management, the news agency said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban converse on February 17, 2015 in Budapest, Hungary. Budapest has signed an agreement with Belarus over assistance in building its second nuclear power plant.

In October, a nuclear power station was at the heart of a rift between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko, the president of Belarus. Lukashenko demanded that Russia paid compensation for issues that arose with its nuclear power station, which was built by Rosatom and funded by Moscow with a loan of $10 billion.

He said that the construction of the nuclear facility near the city of Astravets in the western Grodno region was complete. However, he is asking Russia to return some money because construction of the plant was delayed and he claims it was Moscow's fault.

Belarus, a former Soviet Union republic, has maintained strong relations with Russia since Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While Lukashenko's troops haven't directly joined the Ukraine conflict, Russian troops have been allowed to do exercises on Belarusian territory since before the beginning of the war. The country was used by Russia to launch its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

While Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has built strong economic and political ties with Moscow and has often spoken of his close relationship with Putin, he has condemned Russia's decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and has complied with several EU sanctions packages.

The NATO member state however has refused to supply Kyiv with weapons in the ongoing war.

In January 2023, Orbán suggested that Western nations have already "drifted" into becoming active participants in the war by providing weapons and money to assist Kyiv. Western countries should instead pursue "a ceasefire and peace talks," he said on Hungarian state radio