In Kiev, Hungary’s Orban suggests a ceasefire to expedite peace negotiations

On Tuesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban expressed his desire for a significant cooperation agreement with Kyiv and asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to think about a ceasefire to expedite the end of the conflict with Russia.

During his first visit to Kyiv in almost ten years, Orban, who is a vocal opponent of Western military assistance to Ukraine, opened a fresh dialogue and has the best relations of any EU leader with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Following the discussions, Orban gave reporters a brief joint statement in which he expressed his appreciation for Kyiv’s efforts to advance Zelenskiy’s peace vision at an international summit in June in Switzerland and its intention to host a second, follow-up summit later this year.

“I asked the president to think about whether we could reverse the order, and speed up peace talks with making a ceasefire first,” Orban stated.

“A ceasefire with a deadline would present an opportunity to expedite peace negotiations. The president and I discussed this option, and I appreciate his open communication and compromise.”

Before Orban, Zelenskiy spoke, but he didn’t address such remarks.

The head of Ukraine bragged about the potential for a comprehensive bilateral cooperation deal between Hungary and Ukraine.

“…the content of our dialogue today on all issues can become the basis for a bilateral document between our states, a document that will regulate all our mutual relations,” he stated.

Orban praised Zelenskiy’s remarks and stated that Hungary would like to assist Ukraine in upgrading its economy.

After Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, relations between the neighbors deteriorated significantly, with Budapest frequently blocking EU efforts to assist Kyiv.

Hungary has continuously charged Ukraine of restricting the rights of about 150,000 ethnic Hungarians residing in the far west of Ukraine under Orban, who infuriated Western allies by meeting with Putin in October of last year.

Ukraine, on the other hand, is eager to win Hungary’s support because it is mostly dependent on the financial and military assistance of the 27-member EU, where many decisions require unanimous consent.

TROUBLES

Orban connected Hungary’s unexpected visit to Ukraine on Tuesday to the country having taken up the rotating six-month presidency of the European Council on Monday.

“Helping the European Union overcome its obstacles is the goal of the Hungarian president. That’s the reason I traveled to Kiev for the first time,” Orban posted on Facebook as soon as he got there.

Ukraine’s spirits were raised last week when the EU initiated formal membership talks with the country during its summit in Brussels. However, there is still a long and difficult road ahead before Ukraine can become a member of the club.

On the fringes of that summit, Zelenskiy and Orban were captured on camera engaging in what appeared to be an emotional exchange.

Orban informed Putin last year that Hungary had no intention of defying Russia. It took weeks for the EU leaders to override the veto of the prime minister of Hungary in order to provide Ukraine an additional 50 billion euros ($53.67 billion) in aid at the beginning of 2024.

Although it claims it is willing to address any issues, Ukraine has refuted Budapest’s claim that it is restricting the rights of Hungarian speakers in western Ukraine.

In 2017, a law was approved in Kyiv requiring all schools to teach the Ukrainian language to all kids older than ten. Hungary believed that this violated the rights of the minority ethnic Hungarians.

In December 2023, when the matter became crucial for Kyiv’s EU accession negotiations, certain adjustments were made. Budapest claimed that while the adjustments were better, they weren’t substantial enough.

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