Budapest: While Donald Trump was busy antagonising Iran, offending Australia and insulting Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vladimir Putin made a quick, businesslike visit to his best friend in Europe and showed how he intends to defend Russia's interests in this new age of uncertainty.

Mr Putin's talks with Hungary's right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban coincided with a flare-up of the war in Ukraine. In the joint press conference afterwards, the Kremlin leader departed from his chosen economic script to field one question on Ukraine, making clear Russia was not about to apologise for any of its actions there.

The press conference was classic Putin. Amid tight security, journalists were kept waiting in the snow for admission to Hungary's opulent parliament. Four questions were allowed, two from the local and two from the Russian media. In a slick performance, Mr Putin showed his grasp of economic nitty gritty while avoiding the elephant in the room – Russia's part in the disastrous state of East-West relations.

Both Mr Putin and Mr Orban, proud to be illiberal, admitted sanctions against Russia were hurting them and expressed hope for pragmatism in international relations under President Trump. The Kremlin leader allowed his host to speak for them both when Mr Orban said he wanted a world in which economics and politics were not mixed.