Viktor Orban, leader of Hungary, who has just started his presidency of the EU, will travel to the Kremlin for a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin.
A meeting announced with a post on X by the investigative journalist Szabolcs Panyi and which neither Moscow nor Budapest have denied.
If confirmed, it would be the first visit to Russia by a Western head of government since the start of the conflict in Ukraine after that in April 2022 by Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who had a harsh confrontation with Putin.
But there is no shortage of controversy. «The EU presidency has 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 discussion on Ukraine can take place without Ukraine,” said European Council President Charles Michel.
It should be noted that, in another surprise move, Orban went to Kiev on Tuesday to ask Volodymyr Zelensky for "an immediate ceasefire" to "accelerate peace negotiations".
However, the Ukrainian president coldly replied that Ukraine, massacred by war, needs "a just peace".
(Unioneonline)
