Hungary’s leader meets Putin in Moscow to discuss war, sparking EU criticism

• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss peace in Ukraine, despite warnings from EU leaders against appeasement.
• Hungary began its six-month EU presidency on Monday, with Orbán visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
• Orban’s visit to Moscow comes just days before a NATO summit focused on military assistance to Ukraine.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday to discuss peace in Ukraine, but other European Union leaders opposed appeasement and insisted Orban was not speaking on behalf of the bloc.

Hungary assumed its six-month rotating presidency of the European Union on Monday. On his fifth day in office, Orban visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev and formed the “European Patriots” alliance with other right-wing nationalists.

This time, he chose to go to Moscow on a “peace mission” just days before a NATO summit to discuss further military support for Ukraine in response to what the Western defense alliance calls Russia’s “unprovoked war of aggression.”

Hungary assumes EU presidency with Trump-like call to “Make Europe Great Again”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said “only the unity and determination of the EU27 will pave the way to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”

“Appeasement will not stop Putin,” she said on X.

Putin welcomed Orban to the Kremlin and told him he was ready to discuss the “nuances” of a peace plan to end the two-and-a-half-year war.

Putin said last month that to end the Ukraine war, which Russia calls a special military operation, Kiev must abandon its NATO ambitions and agree to hand over four entire provinces claimed by Moscow – a demand Kiev summarily rejected as tantamount to surrender.

Hungarian leader visits Ukraine for first time since war begins for peace talks with President Zelensky

“Skepticism” about Hungary’s motives

EU diplomats said Orban’s decision to meet Putin in Moscow effectively ended Hungary’s EU presidency, which runs until December 31, before it had even begun.

“Unfortunately, the skepticism of EU member states was justified. It’s all to advance Budapest’s interests,” said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity for political considerations.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauzeda accused Orban of undermining Lithuania’s presidency of the EU. “If we really want peace, we should not shake hands with bloodthirsty dictators, but rather put all our efforts into supporting Ukraine,” Nauzeda wrote on X.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Orban in Moscow “does not represent the EU in any way”, while Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said the visit undermined EU interests.

Pavel Havlicek, a researcher at the Institute of International Affairs, said Orban’s visit exploited a power vacuum in Brussels and put a common European position at risk.

Orban, a critic of Western military aid to Ukraine and Putin’s closest EU leader, acknowledged the visit was not mandated by the EU but said peace could not be achieved “from a comfortable chair in Brussels”.

“We cannot sit back and wait for the war to miraculously end,” he wrote to X.

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The role of the EU Presidency is to preside over meetings of member states, seek consensus and broker legislative agreements with the European Parliament.

Analysts said Budapest’s ability to act at the forefront of EU policy-making is likely to be limited in a transitional period when a new European Commission is due to take office in November.

Ministers said Hungary wanted to make an impact with its presidency and marked the inauguration with a catchy slogan: “Make Europe Great Again”, quoting former US President Donald Trump, an ally of Orban.

“We intend to leave our mark,” Orban’s spokesman, Zoltan Kovac, said Thursday before reports of the Moscow visit broke. “The prime minister intends to politicize the presidency.”