Viktor Orban was set to travel to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discuss how to end the war in Ukraine. This was reported by Radio Liberty, citing Budapest government sources who confirmed a tweet by investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi, who said that a delegation from the Budapest government is already waiting for the Fidez leader in the Russian capital. The newspaper, funded by the US Congress, says that “Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is expected in Moscow tomorrow for a bilateral meeting with Vladimir Putin”, while Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto is also expected to accompany Orban to the Kremlin. When asked about the matter, Hungarian government sources neither confirmed nor denied the news, which was later reported by the Financial Times.
‼️🇷🇺Several Western and Central and Eastern European officials independently told me that Viktor Orbán is expected to travel to Moscow a few days after his surprise visit to Kiev on Tuesday. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó (Lavrov’s friend) is also going. What to start @HU24EU! @VSquare_Project pic.twitter.com/dP75HC8t6X
— Szabolcs Panyi (@panyiszabolcs) July 4, 2024
The news that angered European Council President Charles Michel was that Hungary would take over the EU’s rotating presidency from July 1, and thus in a sense represent the entire Union. “The EU’s rotating presidency has no authority to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU. The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. There can be no discussion on Ukraine without Ukraine,” Michel wrote. He called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to accept a ceasefire in order to reach a definitive solution to the conflict.
Zelensky did not express his views on the proposal in his press statements after the meeting. Zelensky’s deputy chief of staff, Ihor Zhovkva, later said the president would listen to Orban’s proposal but said Kiev’s position was “clear, understandable and known.” Ukraine maintains that “territorial integrity” and therefore the return of territories annexed by Moscow should be the basis of any peace deal.
Orban “made a proposal, he will be the rotating president of the European Union, then there will be a meeting of foreign ministers. This is his idea, the Hungarian government’s idea of an immediate ceasefire, the discussion is broader, because then Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said, “it is necessary to see also the position of all the countries that helped Ukraine,” adding that he “believed that Zelensky was right when he said that there should be a just peace: a just peace does not include the occupation of unthinkable Ukrainian territory.” Orban’s last visit to Moscow dates back to September 2022, when the Hungarian prime minister attended the funeral of former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
