Hungary wants to sign global cooperation agreement with Ukraine - Orban

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said this at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Tuesday, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

First, he noted that the meeting with the Ukrainian leader was overdue and that there were many issues between the two countries that need to be settled and that were discussed in previous years.

"I came here with the goal of moving forward in resolving these bilateral issues," Orban said.

"We are trying to settle all previous disputes and focus on the future. We wish to establish relations between our countries. We wish to sign a global agreement on cooperation with Ukraine, similar to the agreements that we have with our other neighboring countries," he said.

He added that Hungary would participate in the modernization of the Ukrainian economy according to its capabilities and wants to have the appropriate conditions for this.

Zelensky, in turn, said that the document that will resolve the differences between Ukraine and Hungary could be based on a mirror approach.

"In general, the content of our dialogue on all current issues can become the basis for a future bilateral document between our states, which will regulate all our mutual relations. It can be based on a mirror approach to bilateral relations between Ukraine and Hungary, which will allow our peoples to enjoy all the benefits of unity," Zelensky said.

According to him, during the talks with Orban, both parties agreed that "the teams will continue working on the details of joint decisions."

Orban made an official visit to Kyiv on Tuesday, July 2, for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine started.

On July 1, Hungary took over the six-month rotating presidency of the EU.

Hungary had repeatedly blocked military aid to Ukraine from the European Union, the introduction of EU sanctions against Russia and the start of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU.

Photo: Zoltan Fischer/Hungarian PM's Press Office/MTI