Right-wing nationalist makes trip with no official mandate from the European bloc, causing outrage.

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, the first visit by a European leader to Russia in more than two years, on July 5, 2024 [Valeriy Sharifulin/Sputnik/Pool via Reuters]

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, with no mandate from the European Union.

At a press conference after their meeting, Putin said on Friday that the talks were “frank and useful” and that they discussed the situation in Ukraine. However, the Russian leader reiterated that Moscow’s peace proposals should be key to any negotiations.

Putin added that he was grateful to Orban for an attempt at restoring dialogue between Russia and Europe, but Kyiv was still not willing to stop the conflict.

At the press conference, Orban also said that “many steps” were needed to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

“We took the first step to restore dialogue,” Orban said, adding that “points of view remained far from each other in Kyiv and Moscow.”

Earlier, Orban posted on X about his trip to the Russian capital, days after his first stop in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Hungary took over the rotating EU presidency this month, with Orban saying he wants to use it to advocate for an end to the fighting in Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2022.

In televised comments at the beginning of their meeting, Putin suggested that Orban had come to Moscow as a representative of the European Council, despite several European officials having condemned the visit.

“I understand that this time you have come not just as our longstanding partner but as president of the council,” Putin told Orban, adding that he expected him to outline “the position of European partners” on Ukraine.

But EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said Orban had not received any mandate to visit Moscow, consigning the visit to “the framework of … bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia”.

The Hungarian leader “is thus not representing the EU in any form,” Borrell said in a statement.

Orban, who is seen as the closest European leader to Putin, has regularly blocked and delayed the 27-member bloc’s efforts on financial and military aid for Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Russia.

Hungary has also angered Ukraine by criticising the EU opening formal membership talks with Kyiv, although it ended up abstaining rather than vetoing the move.

Borrell noted that Putin “has been indicted by the International Criminal Court and an arrest warrant released for his role in relation to the forced deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia”.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned on Friday that “appeasement will not stop” Putin. “Only unity and determination will pave the path to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” she said on X.

In Kyiv on Tuesday, Orban urged Zelenskyy to work towards a “time-limited” ceasefire with Russia to speed up peace talks.

The Ukrainian leader instead called on Orban to back Kyiv’s steps to work for peace in conjunction with international partners.

No mandate

While Hungary may hold the EU’s presidency for six months, European Council President Charles Michel pointed out on Thursday that it had “no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU”.

“The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine,” he posted on X.

The EU has firmly opposed Russia’s war on Ukraine, imposing 14 rounds of unprecedented sanctions on Russia over the invasion, which Orban has repeatedly sought to soften.

Orban insisted on Friday that peace cannot be achieved without dialogue.

“If we just sit in Brussels, we won’t be able to get any closer to peace. Action must be taken,” Orban said on Hungarian state radio when asked about his Tuesday visit to Ukraine.

His Moscow visit would be the first by an EU leader since Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer in April 2022. Orban and Putin last met in October 2023 in Beijing, where they discussed energy cooperation.