Marathon Talks Between Viktor Orban and Vladimir Putin

There was a fairly exhaustive, direct and honest exchange of views on current international issues, including the conflict in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin said after talks with Viktor Orban in Moscow.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold a joint press conference in Moscow on July 5, 2024 (Source: Telegram/RIA Novosti)

The positions held by Russia and Ukraine are very far apart, and much needs to be done to end the conflict, Viktor Orban told the press conference. Hungary's prime minister said that he and Vladimir Putin discussed how to reach peace in Ukraine and the shortest way to achieve it.

Peace does not come about without efforts, you have to work for it. It is the ways to achieve peace that I discussed with Vladimir Putin today, 

the Hungarian prime minister said. Peace is the most important thing for Europe, he emphasized. Hungary holding the EU residency sees the next six months - the work to be done - as a peace mission.

Hungary's prime minister said that on Friday, he had the 14th meeting with Russia's president.

Mr Orban said that the meeting was of particular significance because it took place in war time, "at a time when Europe is in great need of peace".

At the meeting he told the Russian president that peace was the basis for the exceptional development of Europe in recent decades, 
"but now we have been living in the shadow of war in Europe for two and a half years, and this is causing Europe extreme difficulties".

We do not feel safe. We see the images of destruction and suffering, and this war is now also manifesting in the disruption of economic development and a decline in our competitiveness,

he explained.
According to the PM the lesson we have learned over the past two and a half years is that we cannot achieve peace without dialogue and diplomatic channels. At the meeting with the Russian president, he discussed ways of doing this, with a view to finding where the shortest route to peace lies.

Mr Orban sought out the Russian president's views on three issues: first, what he thinks of the peace plans on the table and the format of the peace talks; second his thoughts on the relationship between a ceasefire and a peace negotiation, "would a ceasefire be possible before a peace negotiation?"  And third, he was interested in Mr Putin's views on the post-war security system in Europe. 

PM Orban expressed his gratitude to the Russian president for the open and frank discussion. 

Over the past two and a half years, those who are capable of talking to both warring sides have been diminishing in number with "hardly any left" and Hungary being one of the very few, he pointed out, adding that this is why he went to in Kyiv this week and why he is now in Moscow.

"I have experienced that positions are far apart, the number of steps needed to reach an end to the war and establish peace is high, but the first important step towards restoring communication and dialogue has been taken today," Viktor Orban said, adding that he would continue this work.

Cover photo: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Russian President Vladimir Putin hold a joint press conference in Moscow on July 5, 2024 (Source: Telegram/RIA Novosti)

Borítókép: Orbán Viktor és Vlagyimir Putyin sajtótájékoztatót tart (Forrás: Telegram/RIA Novosztyi)