Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is in Moscow for talks with Vladimir Putin — here’s what they’re saying

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has arrived in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed to a Russian state TV reporter on Friday that Ukraine would be among the topics on the agenda when Mr Orbán and Mr Putin meet.

Mr Orbán’s press chief Bertalan Havasi told Hungarian news agency MTI that the prime minister’s trip to Russia on Friday was a “peace mission”.

The Russian president said on Friday he was ready to discuss the “nuances” of peace proposals to end the war in Ukraine.

“I hope we will have an opportunity to exchange views on building bilateral relations in this difficult situation and, of course, to talk about the prospects for the development of the biggest European crisis, I mean in the Ukrainian direction,” he said.

‘Appeasement will not stop’ Putin, EU says

The trip marks a rare visit to Moscow by a European leader since Russia invaded Ukraine more than two years ago.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, criticised Mr Orbán’s visit to Moscow in a statement.

“Prime Minister Orbán has not received any mandate from the EU Council to visit Moscow,” he said.

He added the International Criminal Court had indicted Mr Putin for his role in the forced deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia, and had a warrant out for his arrest.

Mr Orbán claims his trip does not “need a mandate, because I do not represent anything”.

In a statement on X, he insisted peace between Russia and Ukraine could not be brokered “from a comfortable armchair in Brussels”.

“We cannot sit back and wait for the war to miraculously end,” he said.

In a live feed on state-owned Russian news site Ria Novosti, he praised his country’s place in European affairs.

“Hungary will slowly become the last European country that can talk to everyone,” he predicted.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asserted that “appeasement will not stop” Mr Putin.

European Council President Charles Michel also took to X on Thursday to express his disappointment in Hungary’s prime minister.

“The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine,” he said.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda criticised the Hungarian prime minister for discussing matters with Mr Putin at all.

“If you truly seek peace, you don’t shake hands with a bloody dictator, you put all your efforts to support Ukraine,” he wrote on X.

Mr Orbán’s visit comes only days after he made a similar unannounced trip to Ukraine, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and proposed Ukraine consider agreeing to an immediate ceasefire with Russia.

Mr Orbán — who is widely considered to be Mr Putin’s closest partner in the European Union — has routinely blocked, delayed or watered down efforts from the EU to assist Ukraine and impose sanctions on Moscow for its war. 

He has long argued for a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine, but has not outlined what that might mean for the country’s territorial integrity or future security.

That posture has frustrated Hungary’s EU and NATO allies, which have broadly considered Russia’s invasion as a breach of international law and a threat to the security of countries in Eastern Europe.

Mr Putin said last month Russia would end the war in Ukraine only if Kyiv agreed to drop its NATO ambitions and hand over the entirety of four provinces claimed by Moscow, demands Kyiv swiftly rejected as tantamount to surrender.

AP/ABC