Explosive journey
Orban provokes EU partners with trip to Putin

Hungary’s Kremlin-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Orban made a surprise trip to Moscow for talks on Ukraine with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Photo
© Valery Sharifulin/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/AP/dpa
Talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin are currently a delicate matter. However, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban does not seem to be bothered by this – on the contrary.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made it clear that she sees Orban’s solo action as a threat to the credibility of the European Union. “Only unity and determination will pave the way to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” she commented. “Appeasement will not stop Putin.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on the other hand, reacted comparatively cautiously. Scholz merely clarified that Orban was travelling to Putin as Prime Minister of Hungary and not as the EU’s foreign policy representative.
Stoltenberg explained in Brussels that Hungary had informed the alliance about the trip in advance. He stressed that it was important that everyone agreed that Russia was the aggressor in the conflict with Ukraine and that territorial integrity and sovereignty must be respected. Orban also did not represent NATO at meetings with Putin. It was also clear that only Ukraine could decide what conditions for peace negotiations were acceptable to it.
The Kremlin chief taunts
Nevertheless, Putin immediately took advantage of the situation on Friday. He welcomed Orban with the words: “I understand that this time you are coming here not only as our long-standing partner, but also as the President-in-Office of the Council of the EU.”
A photo shared by Orban on the X platform also featured a logo of Hungary’s EU Council Presidency. However, he did not comment directly on this. Instead, in Moscow he praised his intended role as a mediator in the Ukraine conflict. “The number of countries that can talk to both sides of the war is slowly decreasing, and Hungary is slowly becoming the only country in Europe that can talk to everyone,” he said.
He had previously defined his intended peace mission at X. “Even if the rotating EU Council Presidency has no mandate to negotiate on behalf of the EU, we cannot sit back and wait for the war to miraculously end,” he wrote. “We will be an important instrument in taking the first steps towards peace.” Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk commented: “The question is in whose hands this instrument is.”
Orban’s visit benefits Putin
Putin sees Orban’s visit as a very convenient way to show that he is not isolated despite his war of aggression against Ukraine.
At the same time, the visit offers him the chance to show the disunity in the West. The Kremlin chief made it clear that he would hardly deviate from his ideas for the division of Ukraine. He had recently clearly outlined his proposals for “peace” in a speech at his own Foreign Ministry, and Orban was certainly aware of them, he said, to an approving nod from his guest.
Putin had said that a prerequisite for peace negotiations was the withdrawal of Kiev troops from all four regions in the east and southeast of Ukraine claimed by Moscow. He later also denied the possibility of a ceasefire before negotiations began.
Kyiv is angry
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry also criticized Orban’s trip to Moscow. “We recall that the principle of ‘no agreements on Ukraine without Ukraine’ remains inviolable for our country and call on all states to strictly adhere to it,” wrote the authority in Kyiv. The trip took place without Kyiv’s consent and was not coordinated with the Ukrainian side.
Just on Tuesday, Orban visited Kiev – the first time since the war began. There he called on Zelensky to consider a ceasefire to enable negotiations. Relations between Kiev and Budapest are considered strained because Orban has repeatedly delayed aid for Ukraine and tried to prevent sanctions against Russia. Zelensky has publicly left Orban’s proposal unanswered. Kiev has so far officially rejected a ceasefire before the withdrawal of Russian troops.
However, Orban’s trip to Putin could not really surprise anyone. The Hungarian has long held the view that the political course of the EU and NATO could lead to an expansion of the war beyond Ukraine. Most recently, for example, he negotiated within NATO that Hungary would not have to participate financially or with personnel in a planned NATO mission to coordinate arms deliveries to Ukraine.
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