March 23 (UPI) -- Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó admitted that he regularly talks to Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov during private European Union meetings, claiming it's diplomacy.

"I speak not only with the Russian foreign minister, but also with the United States, the Turkish, the Israeli, the Serbian ones, and our other partners before and after the meetings of the Council of the European Union," Szijjártó said at a campaign rally Monday.

"The situation is that many decisions are being made in the European Union that influence the relations and cooperation of Hungary with other countries outside the EU," he said. "That's what foreign policy is about. Perhaps I'm saying something rough, but diplomacy is about us talking to leaders of other countries."

The revelation follows a Washington Post report that said Budapest has kept close to the Kremlin throughout the war with Ukraine. It alleged that Szijjártó updated Lavrov during breaks in EU meetings.

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