Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary surprised observers by making an unexpected trip to Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday. Orban has been vocal in his criticism of Western military assistance to Ukraine.
Hungary took over the rotating six-month presidency of the EU Council the day before Orban’s arrival.
Orban is the most amicable European leader with Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. This is his first visit to Kyiv in over a decade.
“The aim of the Hungarian presidency is to contribute to solving the challenges ahead of the European Union.” Orban posted a photograph of himself shaking hands with Zelenskiy on Facebook, stating, “That’s why my first trip was to Kyiv”
The relationship between the two neighbors has been significantly strained since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Budapest frequently resists the European Union’s efforts to provide assistance to Kyiv.
