Hungary's Orban talks Ukraine with Putin in surprise Kremlin visit

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday to discuss peace in Ukraine, a surprise meeting that drew warnings from fellow European Union leaders against appeasement and an insistence that he did not speak for the EU.

"I understand that this time you have come not only as a long-standing partner, but also as the President of the Council" of the EU, Putin told Orban during a press conference in the Kremlin.

"I expect you to tell me your position (on Ukraine) and that of the European partners", he added.

In turn, Orban told Putin that "the number of countries that can talk to both sides of the war is shrinking. Hungary is gradually becoming the only country in Europe that can talk to everyone."

NATO member Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the EU on Monday. Five days in and Orban has visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv and formed the "Patriots for Europe" alliance with other right-wing nationalists.

He then chose to go to Moscow on what he called a "peace mission," days before a NATO summit that will address further military aid for Ukraine as the conflict with Russia continues.

Amid Orban's trip, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that only unity and determination within the 27-nation EU would pave the way to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine. "Appeasement will not stop Putin," she said on X.

According to the Kremlin, Budapest proposed the visit on Wednesday, the day after the Hungarian Prime Minister's visit to Ukraine, a country with which he maintains difficult relations, not least because of his willingness to reach out to Russia.

Kyiv condemned the visit to Moscow as having been decided "without any agreement or coordination with Ukraine". "We recall that for our country, the principle of 'no agreement on Ukraine without Ukraine' remains inviolable," one Ukrainian diplomat said.

Russia's conditions

The Russian president recalled during the meeting that in June he had set out his conditions for peace in Ukraine: complete withdrawal of all Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as from the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

During his visit to Kyiv, Orban had said that Ukraine should accept a ceasefire, a position rejected by the West and the Ukrainians.

Ukraine is calling for a "just peace" that includes the withdrawal of Russian troops and respect for its territorial integrity.  

"You were in Kyiv recently. You came here to discuss all the nuances of the Ukrainian issue," noted Putin in his meeting with Orban.

But for the EU, which has cut ties with Moscow and imposed tough sanctions on Russia, Orban is not its representative in Moscow for this visit, and is not authorized to speak about Ukraine on its behalf.

According to the EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, Orban "does not represent the EU in any way".

Charles Michel, President of the European Council, which brings together the leaders of the 27 member states, had already reacted on Thursday evening to the unofficial announcement of the trip.

"The rotating presidency of the EU has no mandate to engage in dialogue with Russia on behalf of the EU," wrote Michel on X, insisting that "no discussion can take place without Ukraine."

A few days ahead of a NATO summit in Washington where Ukraine will be a major topic of discussion, and with this visit likely to blur positions, Secretary General Jens Soltenberg insisted that "Viktor Orban does not represent NATO at these meetings, he represents his own country", stressing however, without further details, that NATO had been "informed" of the trip.

Before leaving Budapest or announcing the Moscow trip, Orban had said he was on a mission for peace: "Hungary does not have the mandate or the international political weight (...) but we can be an instrument in the service of God and of those who want peace."

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