Orban visits Zelensky in Ukraine

Budapest: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was in Kyiv on Tuesday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, his first visit to the neighbouring country since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 as Budapest has repeatedly broken ranks with the rest of the European Union and leaned toward Moscow.

Orban’s visit was a rare gesture in a relationship that has long been marred by tensions. Known as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest EU ally, Orbán has routinely blocked, delayed or watered down EU efforts to extend assistance to Ukraine and to sanction Moscow over its war, frustrating both Zelenskyy and other EU leaders.Meanwhile, on the war’s front line, Kyiv’s forces are scrambling to hold at bay a Russian push in eastern Ukraine. Delays in the provision of crucial Western military aid left the Ukrainian army at the mercy of the Kremlin’s bigger and better-equipped forces.

Orban’s press chief, Bertalan Havasi, who confirmed the visit early Tuesday to Hungarian news agency MTI, said the meeting will be an opportunity for building peace as Ukraine fights off Russia’s invasion.

A photo issued by Orbán’s press office showed the two men by themselves, facing each other across a small round table with their national flags and an EU flag against a wall.

Signaling frosty relations, Kyiv is yet to confirm Orbán’s arrival, a usual protocol with VIP visits. This comes a day after Hungary took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, a position that has little real power but can be used to set the tone of the bloc’s agenda. Hungarian officials have indicated that they will act as “honest brokers” in the role despite worries from some EU lawmakers that Hungary’s democratic track record makes it unfit to lead the bloc. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov played down the importance of the visit, saying Hungary “must fulfill functions” of its EU presidency and adding that Moscow had no particular expectations for its outcome.