Orban arrived in Moscow on Friday to seek a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine
Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban travelled to Moscow on Friday to meet President Putin, after meeting Ukrainian President Zelensky earlier in the week.
“The number of countries that can talk to both warring sides is diminishing,” Orban said.
“Hungary is slowly becoming the only country in Europe that can speak to everyone.”
Orban has made clear his desire to open diplomacy between Russia and Ukraine that could end the bloody war that has been raging for the last two years. Orban is the first Western leader to visit Moscow since Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer visited in April 2022, weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
NATO and EU leaders reacted with fury to Orban’s visit to Russia, accusing him of “appeasement” in a clear nod to Neville Chamberlain’s famous visit to Munich in 1938, which failed to prevent the Second World War, despite a guarantee of “peace in our time.”
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “Appeasement will not stop Putin. Only unity and determination will pave the path to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.”
In a press conference aboard Air Force One on Friday afternoon, Karine Jean-Pierre poured scorn on Orban’s efforts to secure peace.
“We are concerned that Prime Minister Orban would choose to make this trip to Moscow, which will not advance the cause of peace and is counterproductive to promoting Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence,” the White House Press Secretary said.
“Russia could end this war today by ceasing their aggression against Ukraine, against their sovereignty, against their democracy.
“They can withdraw. They can withdraw right now.”
Orban fired back at his critics later that day, after his meeting with Putin.
“You cannot make peace from a comfortable armchair in Brussels,” the Hungarian prime minister said in a Twitter post.
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