Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has leaned toward Moscow during Russia’s two-year invasion of Ukraine, visited Kyiv on Tuesday, and declared the war “the most important issue for Europe.”
Orban met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but in a sign of their still tense relations, the Kyiv leader did not publicly acknowledge the visit until hours after Orban’s arrival. Zelenskyy said on the X social media platform that they had discussed trade, cross-border cooperation, infrastructure and energy.
The Ukrainian president's office did, however, release a video showing Zelenskyy thanking Orban for his visit and welcoming him to the country after shaking hands and then sitting across from each other at a round table with Hungarian, Ukrainian and European Union flags in the background.
The two countries have had a tense relationship since the war started, with Orban portraying himself as a champion for peace and calling for an immediate cease-fire and peace talks without expanding on what that would mean for Ukraine's territorial integrity. Orban has frequently been at odds with other EU countries and their continuing military and financial support for Ukraine.
This visit came the day after Hungary took over the six-month rotating presidency of the EU, a position that has little real power but can be used to set the tone of the bloc's agenda. Hungarian officials have signaled that they will act as "honest brokers" in the role, although some EU lawmakers are skeptical of Hungary's democratic track record.
Orban's press chief, Bertalan Havasi, told Hungarian news agency MTI early Tuesday the Orban-Zelenskyy meeting would be an opportunity to build peace as Ukraine fights off Russia's invasion.
During his visit, the Hungarian prime minister stated the obvious to Zelenskyy: "This is war and peace, war between Russia and Ukraine, the invasion of Russia against Ukraine." He added, “My target is to be here to understand how we could be helpful to Ukraine in the forthcoming six months."
But Orban has also long accused Kyiv of mistreating an ethnic Hungarian minority in Ukraine's western region of Zakarpattia, a community he has used to justify his refusal to provide weapons to Ukraine or allow their transfer across the two countries' shared border.
After their meeting, Zelenskyy told Orban, "We appreciate that your visit takes place right after the start of the Hungarian presidency of the European Union. This is a clear indication of our common European priorities, of how important it is to bring a just peace to Ukraine."
Ukrainian officials in Washington
Meanwhile, in Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov that the United States will soon announce more than $2.3 billion in new security assistance for Ukraine.
Austin said the weapons package would include such arms as anti-tank weapons and air defense interceptors and will allow accelerated procurement of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems and Patriot air defense interceptors.
The Austin-Umerov talks came a week before the United States hosts a NATO summit where military support for Ukraine to help it defend against Russia’s invasion is set to top the agenda.
“Secretary Austin and Minister Umerov will discuss the bilateral defense cooperation, regional security issues and ways to strengthen the defense partnership between the United States and Ukraine,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters Monday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also is hosting talks Tuesday with Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff to Zelenskyy.
The United States has been by far the biggest supporter of Ukraine in the more than two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
U.S. military aid is again flowing to Ukrainian forces after stalling for several months amid political gridlock in the U.S. Congress.
Zelenskyy said in a video address late Monday that he expects this month to “bring even more strength to Ukraine, particularly in protecting our sky and achieving real security for our country.”
“Long-range weapons, fighter jets for Ukraine—of sufficient quality and quantity, and more air defense systems—are crucial factors affecting the entire course of this war,” Zelenskyy said.
Russia’s daily aerial attacks with missiles and drones against Ukrainian cities have pushed Zelenskyy to seek more missile defense systems and to try to speed the delivery of fighter jets for Ukrainian forces to use.
Ukraine has also sought to bolster its domestic production of attack drones, and has been carrying out its own aerial attacks, especially targeting areas along the Ukraine-Russia border.
Russia’s defense ministry said Tuesday it shot down four Ukrainian aerial drones over the Bryansk region, four drones over the Belgorod region and three more drones over Russia-occupied Crimea.
Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod, said the attacks injured two people and damaged a shopping center.
A Russian official in Crimea reported damage to several houses and cars, but no injuries.
Some information for this story came from Reuters, Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press.
