Orbán's press chief, Bertalan Havasi, said the Hungarian leader's trip comes 'as part of his peace mission.'
FILE - Hungary 's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, arrives for an EU summit in Brussels, June 27, 2024. , Orbán's press chief said Friday, a rare visit to Russia by a European leader since it invaded Ukraine more than two years ago.The Hungarian prime minister, widely seen as having the warmest relations with Vladimir Putin among all European Union leaders, has routinely blocked, delayed or watered down EU efforts to assist Ukraine and impose sanctions on Moscow for its war.
Hungary at the beginning of the month took over the six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council, a largely formal role that can be used to shape the bloc's policy agenda. Orbán has said he wants to use the presidency to advocate for an end to the fighting in Ukraine. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer visited Moscow in April 2022, weeks after the invasion, and said he raised the issue of war crimes allegedly committed in Ukraine by Russian forces.
He added that Putin has been indicted by the International Criminal Court and an arrest warrant released for his role in relation to the forced deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia. Other EU officials have expressed dismay that Orbán undertook the trip unilaterally and without the approval of the bloc's member states.
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