Budapest, Feb 11 (AFP) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Hungary on Monday that Russia was seeking to divide the West, while his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto slammed criticism of Budapest's ties with Moscow as "enormous hypocrisy".

Pompeo, on a visit to the most pro-Russia member of the European Union, said Hungary's dependence on Moscow's gas and its friendship with President Vladimir Putin amounted to a national security risk.

"We must not let Putin drive wedges between friends in NATO," Pompeo told a joint news conference with Szijjarto.

But the Hungarian foreign minister said Western criticism of Hungary's diplomacy was misguided as other European nations were also engaged in energy deals with Russia.

"There is an enormous hypocrisy and political correctness in the European political arena," he said. (AFP)

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