Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin about a possible peace agreement with Ukraine. This has angered some heads of state and government of the European Union. They warned against a policy of appeasement towards the Kremlin and said that Orban does not speak for the EU.
Hungary took over the bloc’s six-month rotating presidency on Monday.
After five days, Orban visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv and founded the “Patriots for Europe” alliance with other nationalist parties.
He then traveled to Moscow on a “peacekeeping mission,” just days before a NATO summit to discuss further military aid for Ukraine against what the military alliance calls Russia’s “unprovoked war of aggression.”
Peace cannot be made from a comfortable armchair in Brussels. Even if the rotating EU presidency does not have a negotiating mandate on behalf of the EU, we cannot sit back and wait for the war to miraculously end. We will be an important instrument in taking the first steps towards… pic.twitter.com/5pqREmP8EN— Orbán Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) July 5, 2024
It was the first meeting of an EU leader with Putin in Moscow since April 2022, two months after the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Orban’s first since then, although the two have met elsewhere.
Orban’s trip sparked sharp criticism from some EU heads of state and government, and Ukraine said it had not been consulted beforehand.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said only unity and determination within the 27 EU member states could pave the way to a “just and lasting peace in Ukraine”.
“Appeasement will not stop Putin,” she said on X.
Hungarian @PM_ViktorOrban visits Moscow: Appeasement will not stop Putin. Only unity and determination will pave the way to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine. — Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 5, 2024
Putin, who received Orban in the Kremlin, said the talks had been useful but accused Ukraine of refusing to end the two-and-a-half-year war and said his own ideas for ending the conflict – which Ukraine sees as tantamount to surrender – were the way forward.
“In our view, their implementation would make it possible to end hostilities and start negotiations,” Putin told reporters.
“I have said repeatedly that we have always been and remain open to discussions on a political and diplomatic solution.
“On the other side (of the conflict), however, we hear of a reluctance to solve the problems in this way.”
Putin said last month that Russia would end the conflict, which it called a special military operation to protect its security, if Ukraine gave up its aspirations for NATO membership and handed over all four provinces claimed by Russia, a demand Ukraine immediately rejected as unacceptable.
Ukraine sees its 10-point peace plan and a recent international summit based on it as the only realistic path forward. It said Orban’s trip to Moscow was not coordinated with Ukrainian officials.
“We remind you that for our state the principle ‘No agreements on Ukraine without Ukraine’ remains unshakable and (we) call on all states to strictly adhere to it,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Orban, a critic of military aid to Ukraine who has the friendliest relations with Putin of any EU leader, said he knew he had no EU mandate for the trip but that peace could not be achieved “from a comfortable armchair in Brussels.”
“We cannot sit back and wait for the war to miraculously end,” he wrote on X.
Orban told reporters after the talks that Hungary sees its temporary EU Council presidency over the next six months and the work that will be done then as a peace mission.
“This war is also reflected in the destruction of our economic development and the decline of our competitiveness. In short, I told the President (Putin) that Europe needs peace.”
Even though many steps are still needed to end the war and the positions of Russia and Ukraine remain far apart, Orban said his trip was the first step towards restoring dialogue.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda accused Orban of undermining the EU presidency.
“If you really want peace, do not shake hands with a bloody dictator, but put all your efforts into supporting Ukraine,” he wrote on X.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto hit back.
“Hungary is an independent country and I therefore do not think we should listen to such criticism. Time has proven that without dialogue and without maintaining open channels of communication there is no solution to this war,” he said.