Hungary’s Viktor Orban makes surprise visit to Moscow, angering other EU leaders

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived in Moscow on Friday for meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of his self-described “peace mission” to seek a cease-fire in the Kremlin’s war with Ukraine.

Mr. Orban’s trip to Russia, which drew sharp rebukes from top European Union officials, came only days after a surprise visit to Ukraine, where he prodded President Volodomyr Zelenskyy to begin cease-fire negotiations with the Kremlin.

He landed in Russia the day after Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the EU. Hungary under Mr. Orban has clashed repeatedly with the EU bureaucracy in Brussels over Budapest’s domestic policies and its maintenance of diplomatic and commercial ties with Moscow.

Charles Michel, president of the European Council, said the rotating presidency was not a mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU. The EU has joined the Biden administration in sharply condemning the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and has tried to isolate Mr. Putin on the world stage.

“The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim,” Mr. Michel wrote on X. “No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine.”

Mr. Orban, long seen as friendly to the Russian president, insisted that he was in Moscow in his capacity as Hungary’s prime minister. But he also added that peace will not be made from “a comfortable armchair in Brussels.”

“We cannot sit back and wait for the war to miraculously end,” he said on social media. “We will serve as an important tool in making the first steps toward peace. This is what our peace mission is about.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Mr. Orban’s visit was an effort to appease the Russian president and will do nothing to stop Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

“Only unity and determination will pave the path to a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine,” Ms. von der Leyen said in a statement.