EU angry as Hungarian leader meets with Russia's Putin in 'peace mission'
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has met President Vladimir Putin of Russia for talks on the war in Ukraine, days after he was received by President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev.
Putin received Orban at the Kremlin on Friday, just days after Hungary took over the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. The Russian leader said he expected Orban to speak for Europe as the holder of the EU's rotating presidency.
"I understand that this time you have come not just as our long-standing partner but as president of the council," Putin told Orban.
Putin said he expected Orban to outline "the position of European partners" on Ukraine.
The EU rotating presidency has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU.
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) July 4, 2024
The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine.
Hungarians took to social media platform X on Friday, saying “The #peace mission continues. Second stop: #Moscow.”
His trip to the Russian capital came days after a first stop in Kiev for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The prime minister said he recognized he had no mandate from the bloc for the trip to Moscow, but that peace could not be made "from a comfortable armchair in Brussels.”
"We cannot sit back and wait for the war to miraculously end," he wrote on X.
EU leaders, however, criticized Orban for the trip to Moscow, with European Council President Charles Michel saying Hungary had “no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU.”
“No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine,” he wrote on X.
"The peace mission continues. Second stop: Moscow." - Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán pic.twitter.com/A5pjO4g2wl
— The National Independent (@NationalIndNews) July 5, 2024
EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell also said Orban in Moscow is “not representing the EU in any form.”
"Appeasement will not stop Putin," European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X.
"Only unity and determination will pave the path to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine."
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg decried the visit, saying Orban was not representing the military alliance in Russia.
During his trip to Kive on Tuesday, the Hungarian leader urged Ukraine's Zelensky to work towards a “time-limited” ceasefire with Russia to speed up peace talks.
Zelensky however, called on Orban to back Kiev’s steps to work for peace in conjunction with international partners.
Since Russia launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine in February 2022, the Hungarian leader has made it clear that Russia’s advantage in resources and men makes the country unbeatable. He is the European Union’s most prominent critic of providing Ukraine with military aid.
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