Ceasefire in Ukraine could accelerate peace talks, says Orban

KYIV, Ukraine: Hungary´s Moscow-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Orban urged Kyiv to work towards a “quick ceasefire” with Russia, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky invited Budapest to back his peace moves instead.

Orban, a vocal critic of Western support for Ukraine, was in Kyiv for the first time since Russia invaded in February 2022.

“I asked the president to consider whether... a quick ceasefire could speed up the peace talks,” Orban said, adding that such a ceasefire would be “time-limited”.

Ukraine has repeatedly rejected calls for a pause in fighting, which it says would just give Russia time to regroup for a fresh assault.

Zelensky instead called on Orban to back Kyiv´s steps to work for peace in conjunction with international partners.

“I invited Hungary and Prime Minister Orban to join the relevant efforts,” he said in his evening address. Zelensky also said there were preparations for a possible second international peace summit, akin to one held in Switzerland last month.

The US meanwhile announced on Tuesday a new security aid package for Ukraine worth $2.3 billion.

In his video address, Zelensky said Orban´s trip to Kyiv, “many years” since his last visit, was a significant step. Orban is widely seen as the EU´s most pro-Russian leader. In October 2023 he met Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Beijing, becoming the first EU leader to do so since the start of the war.

The populist leader, in power since 2010, regularly criticises Europe´s financial and military support for Kyiv and temporarily blocked a 50-billion-euro ($53-billion) aid package for weeks.

And he openly opposes holding EU membership talks with Kyiv as well as Brussels´ sanctions on Moscow -- though Budapest has not used its veto to block the moves.

The visit came the day after Hungary took over the EU´s rotating presidency, a position which gives the central European state sway over the bloc´s agenda and priorities for the next six months.

Orban said he would report on his talks with Zelensky to EU prime ministers “so that the necessary European decisions can be taken.”

“This is a clear indication of our common European priorities, of how important it is to bring a just peace to Ukraine,” he said, urging European countries to maintain military support.

As the two leaders talked in Kyiv, yet more civilians were reported killed by Russian bombardments.

Moscow´s forces killed two elderly women and injured nine in Nikopol, a city in southern Ukraine, the local governor said.

And a Russian strike killed one person and wounded seven more in the southern Kherson region, which is partially occupied by Russia´s forces.

Asked about Orban´s visit earlier on Tuesday, the Kremlin said it expected little to come of it, but described him as a “tough” politician who keenly defended his country´s interests.