Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who holds the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU), visited Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday (5) and spoke about proposals for a ceasefire in the Russian war against Ukraine.
“Peace is what needs to be achieved,” the prime minister wrote on Facebook, in a post that showed photos of the meeting. On Tuesday (2), he had visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev, where he also called for a ceasefire in the conflict that began in February 2022.
Putin, who recently imposed as conditions for peace that Ukraine agree to cede more territory beyond that already occupied by the Russians and that Kiev give up its bid to join NATO, blamed the Ukrainian side for the lack of negotiations.
“I have repeatedly said that we have always been and remain open to discussing a political and diplomatic settlement. However, from the other side, we hear about the reluctance to resolve the issues in this specific way. [negociando]”, said the Russian dictator.
Kiev said it would only agree to start negotiations if Russia leaves the occupied areas.
Orban’s visit angered EU leaders. European Council President Charles Michel said Hungary, despite its temporary presidency of the bloc, had no authority to hold peace talks with Ukraine and Russia on the EU’s behalf.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, wrote in X that “appeasement will not stop Putin”, “only unity and determination [de todos os membros da UE] would pave the way for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”
An ally of Putin, Orbán is the biggest critic of military and financial aid to Ukraine within NATO.
He refused to allow arms shipments to Ukraine through Hungarian territory, opposed European Union sanctions on Russian oil and gas and resisted for months the approval of a 50 billion euro bloc aid package for Kiev and Sweden’s accession to NATO, vetoes he finally overturned earlier this year.
In March, he said that the war against Ukraine will end if Donald Trump wins the US presidential election, because the Republican “will not give a single cent” to Kiev and “it is obvious that Ukraine cannot stand on its own”.
#Orbáns #visit #Putin #criticized #summit