In a bilateral meeting in Beijing on Tuesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to come to a “ceasefire” with Ukraine for the betterment of the European continent.
Becoming the first European Union leader to publicly shake hands with Vladimir Putin since Moscow launched an invasion of Ukraine last year, Viktor Orbán continued his efforts to lobby for the cause of peace in Eastern Europe.
According to the Hungarian prime minister’s official blog, Mr Orbán “stressed the importance of peace” in his meeting with Putin. On social media, the PM said: “Everyone in Europe is asking the same thing: can there be a ceasefire in Ukraine? It’s crucial for Europe, including Hungary, that the flood of refugees, sanctions and fighting should end!”
In a readout of the meeting published by the Kremlin, Orbán added: “Hungary has never wanted to stand against Russia; on the contrary, its goal has always been to build and expand the best mutual contacts. And we have managed to do so. However, due to the military operation and sanctions, our relations and the very basis of what we built together has been severely damaged.”
He went on to thank the Russian president for the continued flow of gas and oil to Hungary, which the country is heavily reliant upon to maintain its economy. Orbán urged for further cooperation, including on nuclear power.
For his part, Vladimir Putin said: “It is very important that we have the opportunity to exchange opinions on both bilateral relations and also on the situation in Europe and the world with a European country, in this case, Hungary. We know that our positions are not always aligned, but I believe it is extremely important that we have the opportunity to exchange opinions.
Throughout the war in Ukraine, Prime Minister Orbán has been one of the few voices in the West to consistently call for peace negotiations. While other European leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron initially made attempts to negotiate, they have largely abandoned any pretext of pushing for peace in the region.
For his willingness to talk with Putin, the Hungarian PM has faced widespread backlash from globalist figures. Following his meeting with the Russian leader, top Eurocrat Guy Verhofstadt wrote: “Ukrainian blood on his hands, the destruction of Europe on his mind… of course Putin is Orbán’s best friend.”
Joe Biden’s ambassador to Hungary added: “Hungary’s leader chooses to stand with a man whose forces are responsible for crimes against humanity in Ukraine, and alone among our Allies. While Russia strikes Ukrainian civilians, Hungary pleads for business deals.”
In response, Orbán’s political director, Balázs Orbán (no relation) said: “If the question is who’s doing business with the Russians, the Americans should turn down the volume. They are buying more than twice as much nuclear fuel alone as they used to, and we have a whole list of them. We are fed up with the U.S. ambassador’s hypocrisy!”
The meeting with Putin in Beijing came during the third summit of Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road debt-trap domination scheme, of which Hungary is a member. Communist China is currently Hungary’s ninth-largest trading partner as well as its top foreign direct investor.
Orbán, a former counter-communist revolutionary, met with communist leaders including Premier Li Qiang and President Xi Jinping and is expected to hold talks with the heads of some of China’s top companies and banks.
Despite otherwise being an ardent opponent of communism after suffering under its boot until Hungary’s liberation in 1989, Orbán has argued that economic cooperation with Beijing is necessary for economic growth in his country.
While there is a growing movement throughout the West to reduce trade ties with the communist dictatorship over its human rights abuses in Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet and elsewhere, Hungary — which is likely to be increasingly isolated in the EU after the fall of the conservative government in Poland this week — has vowed to oppose any EU tariffs or trade barriers on the communist country.
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