Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made an unexpected visit to Kiev on Tuesday during which he urged a "quick ceasefire" in Ukraine. Orban, standing alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, called for immediate efforts towards a ceasefire that could lead to negotiations with Russia to end the war that has been ongoing for over two years.

"I asked the president to consider whether... a quick ceasefire could speed up the peace talks," Orban told reporters, emphasizing that the ceasefire he envisions would be "time-limited."

This visit marked Orban's first to Ukraine since the onset of the war in February 2022. Unlike many European leaders, Orban has been a vocal critic of Western financial and military aid to Kiev, even temporarily blocking a €50-billion ($53-billion) aid package for weeks. 

Orban has also criticized the European Union's decision to initiate formal membership talks with Ukraine, abstaining rather than vetoing the move. 

Moreover, Hungary has openly opposed sanctions on Russia but has generally sought to delay EU measures rather than block them outright. The Kremlin, responding to Orban's visit, expressed low expectations but acknowledged Orban as a "tough" politician who strongly defends Hungary's interests.

The timing of Orban's visit is notable as Hungary has just taken over the EU's rotating presidency for the next six months, giving it significant influence over the bloc's agenda. Orban stated that he would report on his discussions with Zelensky to EU prime ministers to facilitate necessary European decisions.

President Zelensky highlighted the symbolic timing of the visit, coinciding with Hungary's EU presidency, as an indication of shared European priorities and the importance of achieving a "just peace" in Ukraine. Zelensky also urged continued European military support for Ukraine.

EU wants war with Russia

Orban declared Saturday that the EU leadership was pushing the bloc towards war with Russia while neglecting the interests of their own people. 

His op-ed in the Magyar Nemzet newspaper on Saturday stated, “To make matters worse, the Brussels bureaucracy that lives in a bubble has made a number of bad political decisions in recent years... “Europe is increasingly being dragged into a war, in which it has nothing to gain and everything to lose.” 

“The bureaucrats in Brussels want this war", he said, stressing that their aim is to defeat Russia and to do so, "They keep sending the money of the European people to Ukraine. They have shot European companies in their feet with sanctions. They have driven up inflation and they have made making a living difficult for millions of European citizens."

Orban also said that rather than "looking after the interests of the people," the EU leadership was "imposing their own ideologies" on the citizens of member states.