Orban offers Budapest to Putin as a venue for peace talks on Ukraine

A Hungarian delegation arrived in the Kremlin today for talks with Putin. It included Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó.

Orban noted that this was his 14th meeting with Putin as prime minister. The two sides discussed, among other things, "peaceful efforts" to end the war in Ukraine.

Ukraine is Hungary's neighbor, so Hungary is fully feeling the impact of the Ukrainian conflict (meaning the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine — ed.). In particular, we are suffering significant economic losses. Hungary is interested in peace, and we sincerely hope that the recently announced peace initiatives will eventually lead to a result.

Viktor Orban

Prime Minister of Hungary

According to him, Hungary is "ready to provide a platform for peace negotiations" and contribute to the successful completion of this process.

Putin thanked the Hungarian Prime Minister and noted that the idea to hold the talks in Budapest belonged to US President Donald Trump.

Friday's meeting between Orban and Putin was the first since July 2024, when the Hungarian prime minister arrived in Moscow on a "peace mission." At that time, the Hungarian government only confirmed the trip after Orban's plane landed in Russia.