Prime Minister Orban, who has been an outspoken critic of Western military aid to Ukraine, held talks with Mr Zelenskyy on his first trip to Kiev in more than a decade.
In a joint statement to reporters after the talks, Prime Minister Orban said he had asked President Zelenskyy to consider a ceasefire before the next peace conference that Kiev hopes to hold later this year.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shake hands before their meeting in Kiev, Ukraine on July 2, 2024. Photo: Reuters
"A temporary ceasefire would provide an opportunity to accelerate peace negotiations. I have discussed this possibility with the President and I am grateful for his honest answers and negotiations," he said.
Mr Zelenskyy's foreign policy adviser, Ihor Zhovkva, later said on television that this was not the first such proposal and that President Zelenskyy had responded to Orban with the stance he had publicly stated.
"We say that Ukraine really wants peace for itself, which is logical... To do this, we have a tool - the peace summit," Zhovkva said.
After hosting dozens of world leaders at a peace conference in Switzerland last month to promote that plan, Kiev said it hoped to hold a second international peace conference later this year and may invite a Russian representative to attend.
Prime Minister Orban made a surprise visit to Ukraine after Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the European Council on Monday.
"The aim of Hungary's presidency is to contribute to solving the immediate challenges of the European Union. That is why my first trip is to Kiev," Mr Orban wrote on Facebook.
Last week, the EU opened formal membership talks with Ukraine at the EU Summit in Brussels, although there is still a long and difficult road ahead before the country can join.
Relations between neighboring Ukraine and Hungary have become more strained since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out on February 24, 2022, with Budapest often opposing European Union efforts to support Kiev.
Hungary has repeatedly accused Ukraine of restricting the rights of the estimated 150,000 ethnic Hungarians living in the far west of Ukraine. Kiev passed a law in 2017 requiring all schools to teach students over the age of 10 in Ukrainian. Hungary views this as a violation of the rights of the Hungarian minority.
Bui Huy (according to Reuters, AP)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/thu-tuong-hungary-bat-ngo-den-ukraine-thuc-day-ngung-ban-va-dam-phan-hoa-binh-post302144.html
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