After the surprise visit to kyiv, Orbán is expected to meet with Putin in Moscow on Friday according to ‘Radio Liberty’. The governments of Russia and Hungary have neither confirmed nor denied it. Charles Michel says the current Hungarian EU presidency cannot reach agreements on behalf of the bloc.
“It is expected that the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbánarrive tomorrow in Moscow for a bilateral meeting con Vladimir Putin“. The news was published by ‘Radio Liberty’which quotes a Budapest government source and investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi.
According to the journalist, a Hungarian Government delegation of is located in the Russian capital waiting for Orbán. The prime minister will travel together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Peter Szijjarto, according to the government source.
The Hungarian Prime Minister’s visit to the Kremlin would take place a few days after his trip to kyivundertaken shortly after the start of the Hungarian presidency of the European Union. Sources from the Hungarian and Russian governments have neither confirmed nor denied the news.
Since Russia launched its large scale invasion of Ukraine In February 2022, Orbán has been among the most reluctant to support kyiv resistance in front of the Kremlin troops.
Last month, Putin proposed a “peace plan” considered inadmissible for the European leaders due to the conditions requested by the Kremlin. These include giving up NATO ambitions and ceding four partially occupied regions that Russia claims in their entirety, plus Crimea.
Ukraine rejected the conditions as absurd and said they amounted to capitulation. In kyiv, Orbán, who maintains close relations with Putin, presented Zelensky with a ceasefire proposalintended to suspend fighting with Russia.
Michel: Orbán cannot dialogue with Putin on behalf of the EU
In a publication on the social network X this Thursday, the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, referred to the publication about Orbán’s plans to meet Putin in Moscow. “The rotating presidency of the EU does not have a mandate to dialogue with Russia on behalf of the EU. The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. “No discussion about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine.”
