Hungary's Viktor Orbán is in Ukraine for talks with Zelenskyy in his first visit since the war began

Hungary's Viktor Orbán is in Ukraine for talks with Zelenskyy in his first visit since the war began

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was in Kyiv on Tuesday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

ByThe Associated Press

July 2, 2024, 2:52 AM

BUDAPEST, Hungary -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was in Kyiv on Tuesday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

It is his first visit to the country since the war began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Orbán’s press chief confirmed to Hungarian news agency MTI that the prime minister had arrived in the Ukrainian capital in the morning for the talks. Bertalan Havasi said the main topic of the meeting will be the opportunity for building peace as Ukraine fights off Russia’s invasion, and added that Orbán and Zelenskyy will also discuss current issues related to Hungarian-Ukrainian bilateral relations.

Orbán is known as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in the European Union, and has routinely blocked, delayed or watered down EU efforts to extend assistance to Ukraine. He has long accused Kyiv of mistreating an ethnic Hungarian minority in Ukraine’s western region of Zakarpattia.