Hungary’s Orbán meets Putin for talks in Moscow in a rare visit by a European leader

Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has visited Moscow for a rare meeting by a European leader with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed peace proposals for Ukraine. The visit Friday triggered condemnation from Kyiv and some European officials that he had no mandate for discussions beyond bilateral relations. The visit came days after Orbán made a similar unannounced trip to Ukraine, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and proposed that he consider agreeing to an immediate cease-fire with Russia. Orbán is widely considered Putin’s closest partner in the European Union. Orbán said that he looks at his six-month presidency of the EU Council as a “peace mission,” saying that the fighting in Ukraine had burdened Europe’s security and economy.