Putin ally Orbán arrives in kyiv on his first visit to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022

The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbántraveled to kyiv on Tuesday to meet with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, This is his first visit to Ukrainian territory since the start of the Russian invasion, unleashed in February 2022 by Vladimir Putin.

“Orbán arrived in kyiv this morning to discuss a European peace with President Zelensky,” said the Hungarian government spokesman, Zoltan Kovacs, through a message posted on social media.

Thus, he specified that “the conversations will focus on the possibilities of achieving peace, as well as onn the current problems in bilateral relations between Hungary and Ukraine“, without Orbán, the politician closest to Putin among the
EU Member States have not made any public statements so far.

Orbán, an international reference for the extreme right and with Eurosceptic positions, He is visiting Ukraine one day after his country takes over the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union, something that has made many countries in the bloc uncomfortable due to the anti-democratic drift of the Hungarian prime minister.

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Hungary has proven to be the Moscow’s main ally within the EU, questioning the effectiveness of sanctions and slowing down the adoption of measures to support the Ukrainian authorities, although it has not overturned any initiative.

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, this is the first time that the Hungarian Prime Minister has travelled to Ukraine, a country that was previously visited by former President Katalin Novák.

Relations between the two governments are fraught with tension. kyiv sees Budapest as an ally of Moscow, Hungary, meanwhile, accuses Ukraine of failing to respect the rights of ethnic minorities living on its territory, including the Magyars, who number around 150,000 people.

Orbán’s visit It was not expected, nor was it announced previously, although it was clearly already planned, as can be seen from cryptic statements made the day before by the Hungarian Prime Minister in an interview with public television M1.

“If tomorrow (that is, today) you look at the press, You will see how the first steps are taken” towards peace, Orbán replied to a question about Hungary’s chances of ending the war in Ukraine.

In this context, he reiterated his conviction that if the Republican candidate and former president Donald Trump wins the election November in his country and returns to the White House, he will promote a negotiated solution to the conflict.

“The biggest problem facing Europe at the moment is the war between Ukraine and Russia,” he said, and the continent must prepare for negotiations between Moscow and Washington that will begin after Trump’s election victory in the United States.