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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A United Nations body condemned a series of incidents of what it said was Russian interference in the satellite systems of European countries and asked it to stop, according to a document published on Monday.
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) last week reviewed a series of complaints from Ukraine and four European Union countries, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Luxembourg, about satellite interference in recent months.
The complaining parties said the incidents have jammed GPS signals, endangered air traffic control and interrupted children’s TV channels to show violent images of the Ukraine war.
“The Board expressed its grave concern regarding the use of signals to cause intentional harmful interference,” the Geneva-based ITU’s Radio Regulations Board said in a statement.
It said that disruptions to the French and Swedish satellite networks “seemed to originate from earth station(s) located in the areas of Moscow, Kaliningrad and Pavlovka” and called them “extremely worrisome and unacceptable”.
It asked Russia to immediately cease its actions and to investigate the incidents. The body also called a meeting between the affected countries and Russia to resolve the cases and prevent them from recurring.
Russia’s diplomatic mission in Geneva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Moscow, which denies breaking ITU rules, had also complained about alleged satellite interference by Nato countries but this was not treated by the ITU body during last week’s meeting, for reasons which were not immediately clear.
The ITU, made up of 193 member states and based in Geneva, is responsible for regulating and coordinating the global satellite system. Its constitution tasks it with coordinating efforts to eliminate harmful interference.
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“This morning, the enemy dropped aerial bombs on a front-line settlement in the Kupyan district in the Kharkiv region,” the emergency service wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“They targeted an educational institution, a cultural center, and the private sector, and caused destruction.
“A fire broke out in the school with an area of 150 square meters. There were no victims or victims.”
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