Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel has harshly criticised Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán for his interaction with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Bettel, speaking about Viktor Orbán on the second day of the EU leaders' summit in Brussels, mentioned the latter's recent meeting with the Russian president.

"What he [Viktor Orban – ed.] did towards Putin gives the middle finger to all the soldiers who are dying every day in Ukraine and suffering from the Russian invasion," the Luxembourg PM said.

Bettel said the EU should not be held hostage by Viktor Orbán, who is putting forward financial demands as a condition for approving support for Ukraine.

"[Orban says – ed.]: if you need money for Ukraine, then we also need money for us. We should not be held hostage by Mr Orbán in this circumstance. I am convinced that we must find positive solutions. We should not forget the past, and neither should Orbán," Bettel said.

The official also commented on the decision of the new pro-Russian Slovak government to stop military support for Ukraine. Bettel noted that Luxembourg would never join the Fico-Orbán alliance [Slovakian PM Robert Fico and his Hungarian counterpart Orbán], which opposes arms aid to Ukraine.

"We still believe that international solidarity is essential. Ukraine is fighting for our values... We should not forget who will be next if we turn a blind eye," he said.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that during the summit, other countries urged the leaders of Hungary and Slovakia, who do not want further military support for Ukraine, to think about the implications of their proposals.

Before leaving for the summit, Fico noted that he did not want to support sanctions against Russia without assessing their impact on individual EU countries, and that he was not going to support arms aid to Ukraine.

Orbán claimed he had no intentions of apologising for his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and, on the contrary, was "proud" of Hungary's strategy, which he considers "peacekeeping".