Orban arrived in Kiev on an unannounced visit

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived in Kyiv today on an unannounced visit.

This is Orban’s first visit to Ukraine since 2012.

According to Bertalan Havasi, press secretary of the Prime Minister of Hungary, Orban will hold talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the most important topic of discussion, according to Havasi, is “the possibility of peace”.

The President of Ukraine and the Prime Minister of Hungary will also discuss current issues of bilateral relations.

The Ukrainian side did not announce the visit of Orban in advance.

In an interview with Hungarian Index on the eve of the visit, Orbán said that he would take “the first steps towards peace” in Kyiv.

Telex also wrote that the Hungarian Prime Minister’s visit to Kiev is secret, no agreement will be signed at the meeting between Orban and Zelensky.

The position of the Hungarian authorities on the issue of the war in Ukraine is sharply different from the position of the majority of EU and NATO members. Budapest, in particular, calls for the start of peace negotiations without preconditions, which is unacceptable for Kyiv. The Orbán government, which has close ties to the Kremlin, also refuses to supply arms to Ukraine and frequently criticizes the Ukrainian authorities.

In 2023, Orbán became the second European leader to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin during the two-year long war. He was also the only EU leader to congratulate Putin on his election victory in March 2024.