Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has travelled to Ukraine for the first time since the start of the full-scale war. During his visit, he held a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and proposed a ceasefire at the front. Find out how the talks were memorable and what the presidential office responded to Orban's proposal

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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is known for his pro-russian views, came to Kyiv for the first time since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Why the Hungarian prime minister came to Kyiv and what proposals he brought with him, we will discuss below.

It is important to note that Orban's visit took place the day after Hungary took over the presidency of the EU Council.

"The purpose of the Hungarian presidency is to contribute to finding solutions to the problems facing the European Union. That is why I am making my first visit to Kyiv," he wrote on Facebook.

Why did Orban come to Ukraine?

As you know, the Hungarian prime minister has not been to Ukraine since 2012, and 12 years later he arrived to visit a country where the war has been going on for several years.

According to Western media, Orban arrived in Kyiv after Ukraine made concessions to Hungary on the issue of special rights for the Magyar minority in Transcarpathia in order to lift Hungary's veto on the start of negotiations on its accession to the EU.

At the same time, the press service of the Hungarian prime minister said on the eve of the visit that Orban and Zelenskyy would discuss the prospects for ending the war.

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Orban offers Ukraine a ceasefire 

During a press conference after his meeting with Zelenskyy, the Hungarian prime minister said that he had offered Ukraine a ceasefire before peace talks began. He added that the war has a very intense impact on the security of Europe.

Orban said that he highly appreciated all of President Zelenskyy's initiatives to achieve peace, but that these initiatives take a long time. The rules of international diplomacy make them difficult.

"And I asked Mr President to think about whether we could take a slightly different approach. To take a break. Cease fire and then continue, start negotiations," Orban said.

The President's Office has already responded to Orban's proposal. Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkva said during the telethon that Hungary was not the first country to offer Ukraine a ceasefire. But Kyiv has its own plan to achieve peace.

He reminded that Ukraine wants peace, and there is a tool for this. In particular, the first peace summit was held and preparations for the second are underway.

Other issues discussed at the leaders' meeting

During the press conference, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the leaders discussed important topics of neighbourly relations: trade, cross-border cooperation, infrastructure, energy, humanitarian issues and everything that concerns the lives of people in Ukraine and Hungary.

Zelenskyy hopes that today's dialogue can become the basis for a future bilateral document.

The main thing that Zelensky said was that the countries are trying to close old disputes and focus on the future. He added that the parties want to improve relations between the countries.

Zelenskyy and Orban also discussed the issue of the rights of the Hungarian minority in Ukraine. The Hungarian prime minister expressed hope that this issue would be resolved.

We remind you! The majority of the countries participating in the Peace Summit adopted a final document based on three important aspects that Ukraine insisted on. Here's an overview of how the event went, what the document contained and what to expect next.

Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine

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