Hungarian PM Orban – Putin’s key ally – makes first wartime visit to Ukraine

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday for his first wartime visit to the war-torn country.

Orban, widely seen as Russia’s closest ally in the European Union and a staunch critic of Nato’s support for Kiev, is due to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss peace in the European region.

In a social media post After the meeting, Zelensky said the pair held talks on “the most fundamental issues of our neighborly relations – trade, cross-border cooperation, infrastructure and energy” and that they touched on “everything that affects the lives of our people in both Ukraine and as well as Hungary”.

He noted that this dialogue could lay the groundwork for “a new bilateral document” between the two nations, although no such agreement was announced on Tuesday.

Orban, meanwhile, communicated Hungary’s intentions to improve ties with Ukraine and sign a broad bilateral cooperation agreement, while urging Zelensky to consider a quick ceasefire to speed up peace talks, Reuters reported.

Zelensky has sought to gain traction for his 10-point peace framework, first released in November 2022, with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month setting out his own terms under which truce talks could take place . However, neither proposal was accepted by the opposing side.

Orban’s visit caps months of frequent opposition to EU financial aid packages for Kiev. In a historic, pre-agreed move, Orban left the room in December so that EU leaders can reach a unanimous position on starting accession talks with the war-torn country. The bloc formally began accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova last week, although there is a long and arduous road ahead.

A self-proclaimed “peacemaker,” Orban and his government have refused to send weapons to Ukraine and railed against deepening NATO support for non-member Kiev — but also agreed not to block NATO initiatives. Orban was absent from last month’s Ukraine Peace Summit in Switzerland, where Hungary was represented by Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.

The Hungarian prime minister was also one of the few Western leaders to meet Kremlin leader Putin, who has become increasingly isolated since Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine. In October, he assured Putin that Hungary “never wanted to face Russia.” the Associated Press reported.

This week’s visit comes a day after Orban’s nationalist government took over the rotating EU presidency under “Make Europe Great Again” slogan strongly reminiscent of former US President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. It also comes two weeks before a key NATO summit on July 9-11, where outgoing Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has signaled he expects allies agree to further financial and security assistance to Ukraine.

Although not officially on the agenda of his meeting with Zelensky, Orban has previously taken issue with Ukraine’s alleged failure to safeguard the rights of its ethnic Hungarian minority, which is largely concentrated in western Ukraine’s Zakarpattia region.

Hungary has described a number of requests on minority group rights as a prelude to allowing Kyiv to enter the EU.

In a key concession, Ukraine’s parliament in December last year approved amendments that now allow higher education institutions to freely choose their language of instructionexcluding Russian — easing the long-standing concern of regional minorities following the passage of Ukraine’s 2017 law making Ukrainian the required language of instruction in state schools from fifth grade on; causing concern in the EU.