Orban says he discussed Russian war in Ukraine at meeting with Chinese leader

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that the purpose of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing was to discuss ways to end the Russian-Ukrainian war.

He announced this on social media platform X, Ukrinform reports.

“China is a key power in creating the conditions for peace in the Russian-Ukrainian war. That is why I came to meet with President Xi in Beijing, just two months after his official visit to Budapest,” he posted.

Orban did not provide any other details of the meeting with Xi or the results of their talks.

The Hungarian prime minister signed his post with the hashtags of the Hungarian EU presidency #HU24EU and the peace mission #peacemission, which suggests that he was acting on behalf of the European Union.

Read also: Orbán likely aiming to shift Western focus from support for Ukraine towards possible ‘peace’ talks - ISW

However, the EU leadership has repeatedly emphasized that Orban is not authorized to act on behalf of the European Union and that his trips to Kyiv, Moscow, and Beijing, allegedly with a mission to find ways to end the Russian-Ukrainian war, are bilateral contacts between Hungary and the respective countries.

The Chinese side has not yet disclosed the content of Xi's talks with Orban, only local media reported that they met on Monday morning.

As Ukrinform reported, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived in Beijing on Monday morning to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.