Orban visits Erdoğan to discuss war in Ukraine

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Ankara on Thursday as part of his self-styled Ukraine “peace mission,” which has already seen him visit Donald Trump and call Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Agence France-Presse reported.

Orban, the closest political partner of both Trump and Putin in the European Union, has repeatedly called for peace talks and refused to send military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022.

The nationalist leader held “lengthy talks” with Erdoğan, including on the war in Ukraine, Hungary’s foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said in a video posted on his Facebook account.

“There is no solution on the battlefield, there is only a solution at the negotiating table, and therefore a ceasefire and peace talks are needed as soon as possible,” said Szijjarto, praising Turkey’s role as a “successful” mediator on Ukraine.

Turkey, which enjoys friendly ties with its two Black Sea neighbors, has supplied Ukraine with drones but shied away from Western sanctions on Moscow despite being a member of NATO.

Christmas ceasefire

After a call with Putin on Wednesday, Orban claimed that Ukraine had “rejected” a proposed Christmas ceasefire and prisoner exchange, but Kyiv said it had not discussed the initiative.

“During a phone conversation, Orban made a proposal to carry out a major prisoner exchange on the eve of Christmas and announce a Christmas ceasefire in Ukraine,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Peskov claimed that Russia gave its “proposals” on the exchange to the Hungarian embassy in Moscow “that day,” saying it supported “Orban’s efforts”.

But Ukraine said Budapest “did not discuss anything” with Kyiv and “did not warn” it of its call with Putin.

Orban had previously infuriated fellow EU leaders in July by conducting breakaway diplomacy with Russia as part of what he described as a “peace mission” in Ukraine, just days after taking over the bloc’s rotating six-month presidency.

His trips to explore a path to ending the war also took him to Kyiv and Beijing, as well as two trips to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida earlier this year.

After months on hold, Orban revived his “peace mission” by visiting Pope Francis at the Vatican last week, and Trump in Florida again on Monday.