Orbán's Moscow visit and the EU's swift condemnation
A look back at the Hungarian prime minister's meeting with Vladimir Putin, held days after he met Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
What did Viktor Orbán's trip to Moscow amount to, and why did it draw such a reaction? On 6 July 2024, the day after the meeting, the question was already being asked across the European Union.
On 5 July 2024, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The talks came after Orbán had met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday, 2 July. As reported at the time, the Moscow meeting prompted condemnation among EU member states.
A series of "peace missions"
Orbán had announced that he would hold several uncoordinated meetings that he called "peace missions". They began with a visit to Zelenskyy in Kyiv, followed by the trip to Moscow to see Putin. Background on the visits shows the itinerary was planned to continue to Beijing, for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and then to the United States. There he was to attend the 2024 Washington summit and meet Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Those later stops came after the Moscow meeting.
The visits took place during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with China deepening its diplomatic ties to Russia while the EU and the United States imposed economic sanctions.
By 6 July 2024, the Moscow meeting had been held and the criticism from EU member states had begun.
