Orban defies EU officials with Putin meeting: As it happened

Orban’s meeting with Vladimir Zelensky earlier this week was “not bad,” an unnamed Ukrainian official told Politico. The official said Kiev did not give Orban any message to be passed to Moscow, saying he would “decide himself where to go.”

The Hungarian PM had previously declined to reveal details of his conversation with Zelensky, but said on Friday that he’d conveyed them to Putin.

“Hungary is a sovereign state,” Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told Russian reporters on Friday when asked about Brussels’ criticism of the Hungarian delegation’s visit to Moscow.

“Don’t confuse pro-war politicians with people in Europe,” he stated.

There has been no progress in moving towards peace negotiations on the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday, noting Kiev’s unwillingness to enter talks.

“(President Putin) said that there is no progress yet. We have repeatedly said that so far there is no discernible desire on Kiev’s part to negotiate. On the contrary, there is a reluctance to negotiate,” Peskov told reporters following Putin’s meeting with Orban.

Orban declined to reveal the content of his discussions with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, but said he conveyed to Putin his impressions from the visit to Kiev.

The media briefing is now over.

Orban said he wanted to hear directly from Putin how Russia perceives various peace initiatives, calling it an important step, even though the frank discussion confirmed that there was a major rift between the conflicting sides.

Russia wants a full resolution of the conflict, not its freezing, which would allow Kiev to rearm and rebuild its military again, Putin has said. 

Russia’s relations with the EU are at their lowest level in decades, the Russian leader has said. As Hungary holds the rotating presidency of the bloc, Orban and Putin discussed this aspect of tensions between Russia and the West, he added.

Putin has said that judging by Orban’s account, Kiev intends to fight with Russia to the end, and is not prepared to drop that stance.

Peace would require an end of martial law and an election in Ukraine, which the country’s current leadership would definitely lose, the Russian president added.

Putin and Orban are speaking to the media after their meeting in Moscow.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has stressed that Orban’s visit to Russia has nothing to do with the EU, and that the bloc’s position on the conflict remains unchanged.

The talks between Putin and Orban have concluded, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has announced. The two leaders are expected to deliver a joint statement for the press soon.