“He had some doubts about the “peace plan”, Orban said.
“He was very unhappy about it. He said let’s think about it,
let’s think about it. He has some negative experience with previous ceasefires,
which in his interpretation were not good for Ukraine. So he understood the
position, explained his limitations, and we will see how we can continue.”
Viktor Orban’s visit to Ukraine
Orban’s visit to Ukraine on July 2 is his first in 12 years,
came as a surprise. In Kyiv, he met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and proposed the idea of a “ceasefire” for faster negotiations with
Russia. He said that Ukraine’s peace initiatives “take a lot of time” and
therefore “asked Zelensky to think about whether it is possible to do it
differently: first, to cease fire, and then to negotiate peace.” “Because a
ceasefire could accelerate the pace of these negotiations,” Orban said.
In response, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Ihor
Zhovkva said that “Hungary is not the first country to talk about such a
scenario.” Zhovkva made it clear that Zelenskyy actually rejected such proposals:
he listened to Orban, “but in response, he stated his position, which is clear
and known to everyone.”
“Such processes cannot be perceived in isolation,” Zhovkva
said.
“Yes, indeed, Ukraine wants peace, and we have a tool for
this - a peace summit.”
The Hungarian PM is known for his pro-Russian and
anti-Ukrainian statements. He called Ukraine a “non-sovereign state”; said that
the EU has no money to support Ukraine; and defended Russian dictator Vladimir
Putin, while calling for negotiations with him.