On Monday Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in a visit the European leader has branded as a ‘Peace mission 3.0’ after recent trips to Moscow and Kyiv.
The unannounced visit comes a day before NATO is due to hold a summit to mark its 75th anniversary, with setbacks in Ukraine set to dominate discussions, and follows Orban’s surprise trips to Russia and Ukraine in the past week.
On Friday the Orban, the friendliest EU leader towards Moscow, held talks with President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine during a trip criticised by both Kyiv and the EU, which said it threatened to undermine the bloc’s stance on the conflict.
Putin told Orban that Ukraine must withdraw its troops from regions that Moscow has annexed if it wants peace.
Hungary took over the European Union’s rotating presidency at the start of July, and the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Orban’s trip to Russia was a bilateral affair and he has not received any mandate from the EU Council to visit Moscow.
In a short statement earlier, the Chinese foreign ministry said the Hungarian leader would meet Xi for in-depth communication on issues of mutual interest. Close to both Xi and the Kremlin, Orban has refused to send weapons to Kyiv, unlike his fellow EU leaders. China and Russia’s strategic partnership has grown closer since the invasion of Ukraine.
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