Ukraine-Russia war latest: Viktor Orban urges Zelensky ‘to consider quick ceasefire’ in first visit to Kyiv
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban says ‘peace is important not only to Ukraine but to the security of the whole of Europe’
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Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has urged Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky “to consider a quick ceasefire” during his first visit to Kyiv since the full-scale invasion.
During a press briefing in the Ukrainian capital, Mr Orban said: “I asked the president to think about whether we could approach this a little differently, to take a break, to cease fire, and then proceed with negotiations.”
His trip marks Hungary’s first diplomatic visit after assuming the rotating presidency of the European Union on Monday, an inevitability that had caused concern among bloc members given Mr Orban’s continued reluctance to support Ukraine.
But while a Hungarian nudge towards the negotiating table may be viewed by some as Mr Orban yet again shying away from standing up to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, with Budapest reliant on Moscow for energy supplies, Ukrainian officials said the visit was productive.
“Much has been done for this visit,” wrote Andriy Yermak, Mr Zelensky’s chief advisor, on X, formerly Twitter. “An important conversation about the future of Europe, security, international law, and the Formula of Peace.”
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ANALYSIS: Why is there friction between Hungary and Ukraine?
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has arrived in the Ukrainian capital today in what is his first visit since the Russian full-scale invasion more than two years ago.
While the European Union has been a staunch ally of Ukraine, Mr Orban has routinely opposed such support. To date, Budapest has supplied no weapons to Kyiv.
And on two separate occasions in the past year - once last week in Brussels and, prior to that, in Buenos Aires for the inauguration of Argentine president Javier Milei last December - Mr Orban and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky have been papped in heated exchanges.
But why?
To speak Ukrainian or not to speak Ukrainian
Before Mr Zelensky assumed power in 2019, Kyiv passed a law requiring all schools to teach students over the age of 10 in the Ukrainian language.
Hungary saw this as a breach of the rights of roughly 150,000 ethnic Hungarians living in the far west of Ukraine.
Kyiv has denied any such infringements but has said it will do everything to address Budapest’s concerns, which centre around the ethnic Hungarian minority’s language rights and native-language schooling.
Some changes were made in December 2023 when the issue became critical for Kyiv’s EU accession talks, but Budapest said the changes were an improvement that didn’t go far enough.
Mr Orban then used these complaints to block an EU decision to send €50 billion (£42 billion) to Ukraine last year. The action required unanimity among the EU’s 27 members.
That money was only approved after Mr Orban left the room before an EU meeting on the issue, effectively abstaining from the decision.
Orban and Putin: a liquified love affair
Mr Orban is one of only a few European leaders to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin since the autocrat launched the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
During their meeting last October, Mr Orban told Mr Putin that Hungary had never wanted to oppose Russia.
The source of their friendship: liquified natural gas.
While countries in western Europe have made serious efforts to wean themselves off Russian gas since Moscow’s invasion, landlocked Hungary has been receiving 4.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year from Russia under a 15-year deal signed in 2021.
And during a visit to Putin’s hometown of St Petersburg for an economic forum this year, Hungarian officials said they had no intention of halting their importing of Russian gas despite pressure to do so, and accusations that they are helping fund Putin’s war machine.
Experts suggest this dependency - as well as fears that Russia could shut off the taps - is driving Budapest’s approach to Kyiv.
Russia says it destroys five Ukrainian SU-27 jet fighters at airfield
Footage appears to show Russian strikes on a Ukrainian air base, with multiple aircraft damaged or destroyed.
“At least one Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet was destroyed while a few other were possibly damaged,” wrote Status-6, a military news outlet on X, formerly Twitter.
Russia said earlier this morning that it had destroyed five Ukrainian SU-27 fighter jets with Iskander-M missiles and damaged two more at the Myrhorod airfield in Ukraine’s central Poltava region.
Ukraine acknowledged there had been a strike at the airfield but added that Russia was exaggerating the damage caused. Ukraine did not detail exactly what had been damaged.
Russia is targeting Ukrainian airfields just as Kyiv prepares to receive the first US-designed F-16s, which Moscow has vowed to destroy.
A Ukrainian air force official, Yuriy Ihnat, said there had been a strike on Myrhorod.
"There was an attack. There are some losses, but not the ones the enemy claims, after all, they have always done this since the beginning of the invasion," Ihnat wrote in a statement on Facebook late on Monday.
Orban issues first message during Kyiv visit
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has issued his first message since arriving in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
It is his first visit since Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Mr Orban is one of only a few European leaders to meet with Putin since the war in UKraine.
“The aim of the Hungarian presidency is to contribute to the solution of the challenges facing the European Union,” he wrote on Facebook, referring to Hungary’s assumption of the rotating presidency of the EU. “My first trip, therefore, led to Kyiv.”
Orban arrives in Kyiv - pictures
Some pictures have dropped on the wires showing Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban’s arrival in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, where he is meeting with president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged support for Ukraine, EU and NATO in his farewell speech
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged support for Ukraine, EU and NATO in his farewell speech
Long-serving Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has urged his country to support Ukraine and international cooperation in his final address to his compatriots
Zelensky in phone call with future Nato chief
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has held a phone call with future Nato chief Mark Rutte.
“I congratulated Mark on his appointment, and we discussed Ukraine’s future cooperation with the Alliance,” Mr Zelensky wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Lord Coe says Ukraine trip reaffirmed his Russian and Belarusian athletes stance
Lord Coe says Ukraine trip reaffirmed his Russian and Belarusian athletes stance
Coe praised the resilience of athletes he met at the country’s national championships, which also served as trials for this summer’s Paris Olympics.
Russia takes aim at Ukrainian air base as wait for F-16 fighter jets continues
Russia takes aim at Ukrainian air base as wait for F-16 fighter jets continues
Moscow is targeting airfields
We have some photos from the frontline
Below we have some more photos from the frontline in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine.
Russia is ordering its troops to kill Ukrainian prisoners of war – why?
Russia is ordering its soldiers to kill Ukrainian prisoners of war – why?
While the true number of slain soldiers is currently not known, evidence of Moscow’s ‘take no prisoners’ policy is starting to become horrifyingly clear. Askold Krushelnycky reports
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