Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orban has made a surprise visit to Kyiv for talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine.
It is Orban’s first visit to Kyiv since hostilities broke out in Ukraine.
Europe’s most pro-Russian leader’s visit to the Ukrainian capital came a day after Hungary took over the rotating EU presidency.
Orban took control of the presidency on Monday, July 1, 2024, with a call to “Make Europe Great Again.”
“The aim of the Hungarian presidency is to contribute to solving the challenges ahead of the European Union,” Orban noted on Facebook, adding, “That’s why my first trip was to Kyiv.”
Orban’s spokesperson, Zoltán Kovács, noted on X that the talks between Zelenskyy and the Hungarian President will focus on “possibilities for achieving peace, as well as issues in Hungarian-Ukrainian bilateral relations.”
On the eve of his visit to Kyiv, Orbán gave an interview, in which he was asked what Hungary could do during its presidency of the EU Council to end the war in Ukraine.
He remarked that “the first steps to promote peace will be taken on July 2.”
“If you look at tomorrow’s press, you will already see the first steps,” he added.
According to him, “the Americans cannot be left out” when it comes to the future of the EU and the war between Ukraine and Russia.
He stated the belief that the EU will have to “prepare for the situation that sooner or later the Russians and Americans will come to an agreement with each other.”
Orban is an outspoken critic of western military and financial aid to Ukraine.
Hungary has been at odds with other NATO countries over Orbán’s continued cultivation of close ties to Russia and refusal to send arms to Ukraine, with Budapest’s Foreign Minister in May calling plans to help the war-torn country a “crazy mission.”
Budapest has kept channels open with Moscow, and Orban’s Foreign Minister, Péter Szijjártó, has made at least five trips to Russia since the start of the war, most recently to visit an economic forum in St Petersburg last month.
Orban and Zelenskyy talked briefly during the EU summit in Brussels late last week.
They have held several short meetings on the sidelines of international events in the past two and a half years, but never had substantial talks.
In a phone conversation on May 8, 2024, Zelenskyy invited Orban to the Swiss conference on Ukraine, but the invitation was rejected.
At the forum held at the Burgenstock resort on June 15-16, 2024, Hungary was represented by Hungarian Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto.
Kremlin Downplays Orban’s Visit To Kyiv
The Kremlin downplayed Orbán’s visit to Kyiv, stating that it did not “expect anything” from the trip.
Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said that the Hungarian leader was merely “fulfilling his duties” as part of the country’s presidency of the EU.
“Hungary has taken the Presidency [of the Council] of the EU and it clearly has to perform its duties. This is why I think that in this particular case, the focus will be on [Orban’s] obligations with regard to Brussels’ interests rather than Hungary’s national interests.”
Dmitry Peskov
However, Peskov stressed that “Orban is well known as a politician who knows how to defend his country’s interests in quite a tough manner.”
He added that Moscow was not in contact with Budapest before Orbán’s trip.
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