Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is advocating a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine, revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made clear that peace talks can only happen after Ukraine essentially surrenders.

"If we sit in Brussels, we won’t be able to get any closer to peace. Action must be taken," Orban said during a regular interview on Hungarian state radio following his visit.

Orban turned heads this week when he made back-to-back trips to Kyiv and Moscow just days before a major NATO summit in Washington, D.C., next week. Hungary on Monday started its six-month tenure as the president of the EU, which is a rotating role among all members, and this is Orban's first visit to Ukraine since the invasion started in Feb. 2022.

European Union Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell rushed out a statement stressing that Orban had no mandate from the union and that he was "not representing the EU in any form."

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo described the visit as "disturbing" news, writing on social media platform X that the visit shows "disregard for the duties of the EU presidency and undermines interests of the European Union."

Orban insisted that he had had a "really useful, frank conversation" with Putin about Ukraine, and Putin said that the pair had discussed "possible ways of resolving" the conflict, repeating his demands that Ukraine withdraw all troops from annexed regions.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed that Russia had had no idea about the visit until Orban’s camp established contact one day before his arrival.

However, Orban admitted that after his two visits, he realized that the "positions are far apart" between Kyiv and Moscow, adding that "the number of steps needed to end the war and bring about peace is many," Euractiv reported.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry stressed that Orban had made the trip "without any agreement or coordination with Ukraine."

Leaders of NATO member states will meet in Washington, D.C., next week to mark the alliance’s 75th anniversary and tackle the issue of how to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, now well into its third year.

In a pre-summit background call, the White House laid out its goals for the week, including the announcement of new steps to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses and military capabilities, all with the intent of ultimately sending a "strong signal" to Putin that NATO will outlast him if needed.

"We’re also going to send an important message to the rest of the world, including through our partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, as we stand together united and in support of democratic values," a White House spokesperson told reporters.

But Orban’s trip has angered his allies, drawing backlash from various leaders across the bloc who deemed his visit to Moscow in particular a danger to their position in negotiations with Putin.

"With such a meeting the Hungarian presidency ends before it has really begun," one EU diplomat told Reuters. "Hungary does not seem to have understood its role. . . . The skepticism of EU member states was unfortunately justified – it's all about promoting Budapest's interests."

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X, "Appeasement will not stop Putin," and "only unity and determination will pave the path to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine."

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre labeled the visit as "counterproductive" for NATO and argued that the visit "will not advance the cause of peace."

Slovakia’s prime minister ‘would have loved to have joined Orbán in Moscow’

Robert Fico, the Slovakian prime minister, said he would have loved to have joined Hungary’s Viktor Orbán on his trip to meet Vladimir Putin if his health had permitted it.

Mr Orbán angered western EU and Nato allies when he travelled to Moscow on Friday to meet the Russian president, whose country invaded neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.

He visited Kyiv and Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, earlier this week, just after his country had taken over the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union.

In his first speaking appearance after surviving an assassination attempt on May 15 Mr Fico said: “I want to express my admiration for the Hungarian premier for travelling to Kyiv and Moscow without hesitating. If my state of health allowed me to go, I would have loved to join him.”

Mr Fico delivered his speech standing, though he appeared to have lost weight and his voice sounded weaker than before the attack.

Both Hungary and Slovakia have refused to provide military aid to Ukraine under Orbán and Fico, who are seen as Russia’s closest allies in the EU.

Mr Orbán said he was on a mission to help end the war. Both he and Mr Fico are advocating peace talks with Russia. “There are never enough peace talks and initiatives,” Mr Fico said on Friday.

Mr Fico, 59, is recovering from the serious injuries he suffered when a gunman shot him four times from close range after a government meeting in central Slovakia.

The gunman, identified by Slovakian media as 71-year-old poet and author Juraj Cintula, is being prosecuted on terrorism charges. He is currently in custody awaiting trial.

Mr Fico leads a three-party governing coalition of his centrist nationalist Smer-SD party, the centrist Hlas and the far-Right SNS.

He underwent two lengthy surgeries in hospital and was transferred for home treatment to the capital Bratislava on May 31.

On Friday, he made his first appearance at a ceremony marking the arrival of St Cyril and Methodius in former Great Moravia in 863 to spread Christianity among the Slavic people. His speech at Devín Castle near Bratislava lasted more than 15 minutes and was greeted by a standing ovation.

AfD faction in Bundestag praises Orbán's 'peace' efforts with Putin

The far-right Alternative for Germany's parliamentary group has welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's controversial trip to Moscow as a "peace initiative."

"Hungary is leading the way and speaking with both direct parties to the conflict on the first day of its EU Council Presidency. This has been a core demand of the AfD parliamentary group since the beginning of the war," said Matthias Moosdorf, the Bundestag faction's foreign policy spokesman.

Orbán is the only European leader who still has open channels of dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said.

"The AfD parliamentary group welcomes the fact that the possibility of an early ceasefire with the aim of peace talks is now being prioritized at the highest European level. In doing so, Orbán is above all exposing the EU and its personnel as warmongers who are not acting in the European interest," said Moosdorf.

Orbán's uncoordinated meeting with Putin in Moscow on Friday caused outrage within the EU, as well as in Kiev and Washington.

Several EU officials stressed that Orbán had no official EU mandate for negotiations with Russia, and that it had nothing to do with Hungary assuming the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union.

The right-wing populist leader, often a thorn in the side of Brussels over a range of issues, is seen as closest to Moscow among European Union leaders.

During a joint appearance with Putin after the talks, Orbán called for efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Ukraine war.

Hungary’s Orbán makes surprise visit to China after trips to Russia and Ukraine

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is making a surprise visit to China on Monday after similar trips to Russia and Ukraine to discuss prospects for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.

“Peace mission 3.0” is how Orbán captioned a picture posted early Monday on the X social media platform depicting him after having stepped off his plane in Beijing. He was being greeted by Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Hua Chunying and other officials.

Orbán later met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Besides Russia and Ukraine, the end of the war “depends on the decision of three world powers, the United States, the European Union and China,” Orbán wrote in a Facebook post showing him shaking hands with Xi.

Orbán met with Xi just two months ago when he hosted the Chinese leader in Hungary as part of a three-country European tour that also included stops in France and Serbia, which unlike the other two is not a member of the European Union or NATO.

Hungary under Orbán has built substantial political and economic ties with China. The European nation hosts a number of Chinese electric vehicle battery facilities, and in December it announced that Chinese EV manufacturing giant BYD will open its first European EV production factory in the south of the country.

His previously unannounced visit comes on the heels of similar trips last week to Moscow and Kyiv, where he proposed that Ukraine consider agreeing to an immediate cease-fire with Russia.

His visit to Moscow drew condemnation from Kyiv and European leaders.

“The number of countries that can talk to both warring sides is diminishing,” Orbán said. “Hungary is slowly becoming the only country in Europe that can speak to everyone.”

Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the EU at the start of July and Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Orbán had come to Moscow as a top representative of the European Council. Several top European officials dismissed that suggestion and said Orbán had no mandate for anything beyond a discussion about bilateral relations.

The Hungarian prime minister, widely seen as having the warmest relations with Putin among EU leaders, has routinely blocked, delayed or watered down EU efforts to assist Kyiv and impose sanctions on Moscow for its actions in Ukraine. He has long argued for a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine but without outlining what that might mean for the country’s territorial integrity or future security.

That posture has frustrated Hungary’s EU and NATO allies, who have denounced Russia’s actions as a breach of international law and a threat to the security of countries in Eastern Europe.