Orban to Zelensky: Seek a quick ceasefire with Russia

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban has urged Ukraine “to consider a quick ceasefire” with Russia during his first visit to the war-torn country since its invasion by Vladimir Putin.

- TOM WATLING

After crunch talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, during which the two countries pledged to strengthen relations, Mr Orban urged Ukraine to halt fighting and enter negotiations with Russia, adding that the war was having a “very intense effect on the security of Europe”.

“We highly appreciate all the initiatives of President Zelensky for the sake of achieving peace,” he said. “I told [the] president that these initiatives take a long time. It is precisely because of the rules of international diplomacy that they are very complicated. I asked the president to think about whether it is possible to go a little differently: to stop the fire and then continue the negotiations. A ceasefire could speed up the pace of these negotiations.”

Mr Zelensky did not say how he had responded to this prompt but Kyiv maintains that no ceasefire can happen until Russia withdraws its troops from Ukraine – a request that Moscow says will never happen.