Hungary’s foreign minister Peter Szijjarto has met two senior energy officials in Moscow and held talks on a project for Russia to build two new nuclear power plants at the Paks site in central Hungary.

Szijjarto’s visit was rare by an official from a European Union country and is being seen as a move that underscores Budapest’s schism with the rest of the bloc over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Szijjarto held talks with energy officials as part of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban’s effort to maintain his country’s links to Russia on oil, gas and nuclear supplies even as EU partners move to break free.

Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom is overseeing the expansion of Hungary’s Paks nuclear power station, a €12.5bn ($13.6bn) deal that has drawn criticism for giving Russia’s president Vladimir Putin influence over an EU country’s energy supply.