{"id":85998,"date":"2024-07-02T14:25:04","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T14:25:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/02\/orban-a-staunch-russia-ally-and-e-u-agitator-visits-ukraine\/"},"modified":"2024-07-02T14:25:04","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T14:25:04","slug":"orban-a-staunch-russia-ally-and-e-u-agitator-visits-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/02\/orban-a-staunch-russia-ally-and-e-u-agitator-visits-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Orban, a Staunch Russia Ally and E.U. Agitator, Visits Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/07\/02\/multimedia\/02ukraine-orban-kwhb\/02ukraine-orban-kwhb-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Orban, a Staunch Russia Ally and E.U. Agitator, Visits Ukraine\" title=\"Orban, a Staunch Russia Ally and E.U. Agitator, Visits Ukraine\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, one of the few European leaders who maintains warm relations with Moscow and has called on Ukraine to capitulate to Russia\u2019s demands to end the bloodshed, arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday for his first wartime visit to the nation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Orban\u2019s spokesman said he would discuss \u201c<a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/zoltanspox\/status\/1808022110423642618\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">possibilities for achieving peace<\/a>\u201d with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. But in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ZelenskyyUa\/status\/1808101917001654781\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">an initial statement<\/a> after the two men met in Kyiv, Mr. Zelensky made no explicit mention of that. He said they had discussed \u201ctrade, cross-border cooperation, infrastructure, and energy\u201d \u2014 along with \u201cthe humanitarian sphere.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A vocal critic of supplying military and other financial assistance to Ukraine who relishes his role as the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/12\/17\/world\/europe\/hungary-ukraine-eu.html\" title=\"\">odd man out<\/a> in both the European Union and NATO, Mr. Orban had said in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/index.hu\/belfold\/2024\/07\/01\/orban-viktor-europai-unio-soros-elnokseg-brusszel-miniszterelnok-interju-m1\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">an interview with the Hungarian news media<\/a> on Monday night that the visit would be \u201cthe first steps\u201d in promoting his vision for ending the war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That vision stands in stark contrast to the plan outlined by Mr. Zelensky, whose government has consistently said that Russia must pull its troops out of Ukraine\u2019s internationally recognized territory before any peace talks can begin. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, however, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/14\/world\/europe\/russia-ukraine-putin-cease-fire.html\" title=\"\">has shown no signs of backing down<\/a>, leaving the two sides as far apart as ever.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHe is trying to break out of political no man\u2019s land in the E.U., and showing a more open approach toward Kyiv would be key in this regard,\u201d Edit Zgut-Przybylska, an assistant professor at the Polish Academy of Sciences who has written extensively about Russian influence in Hungary, said of Mr. Orban.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Although Hungary recently took over the rotating presidency of the European Union, she said, he will not be able to \u201coccupy Brussels\u201d as he has vowed, and therefore must find a different tactic to exert his influence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Russian government does not \u201cexpect anything\u201d to come from Mr. Orban\u2019s visit to Ukraine, the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, said on Tuesday. In remarks reported by the state news agency Tass, he suggested that the Hungarian prime minister\u2019s visit was about his European Union obligations rather than Hungary\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Despite Mr. Orban\u2019s open embrace of Moscow \u2014 including a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/09\/world\/europe\/xi-jinping-china-hungary-orban.html\" title=\"\">meeting with Mr. Putin<\/a> in Beijing, where he told the Russian leader that Hungary \u201cnever wanted to confront Russia\u201d and \u201chas always been eager to expand contacts\u201d \u2014 Mr. Zelensky has said it was important that Ukraine\u2019s and Hungary\u2019s leaders hold formal discussions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe need to organize a constructive meeting between our countries, because we have common borders, we are neighbors, and we need to talk,\u201d Mr. Zelensky <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pravda.com.ua\/eng\/news\/2023\/12\/13\/7432895\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">said in December<\/a> after the two leaders had a brief, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/av\/world-67680558\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">animated conversation<\/a> in Argentina during the inauguration ceremony of that country\u2019s newly elected president.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Zelensky said that the two had engaged in a \u201cfrank\u201d discussion and that he had pressed Mr. Orban on his resistance to Ukraine\u2019s bid to join the European Union.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI asked him to give me just one reason,\u201d Mr. Zelensky said. \u201cNot three, not five, not 10, just one reason, and I\u2019m waiting for an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Orban told reporters after the encounter that he had accepted an invitation to visit Ukraine, with a caveat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI told him I\u2019d be at his disposal,\u201d Mr. Orban said. \u201cWe just have to clarify one question: About what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That remained unclear as Mr. Orban\u2019s motorcade made its way to the Hungarian Embassy on Tuesday before his expected meeting with Mr. Zelensky.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe trip does not mean that the Hungarian government will make a U-turn in politics,\u201d Professor Zgut-Przybylska said. \u201cOrban has been playing this \u2018peacock\u2019 dance for a decade, and Hungary\u2019s energy dependency on Russia will remain stronger than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/02\/world\/europe\/orban-hungary-ukraine-zelensky.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary, one of the few European leaders who maintains warm relations with Moscow and has called on Ukraine to capitulate to Russia\u2019s demands to end the bloodshed, arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday for his first wartime visit to the nation. Mr. Orban\u2019s spokesman said he would discuss \u201cpossibilities for achieving [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/07\/02\/multimedia\/02ukraine-orban-kwhb\/02ukraine-orban-kwhb-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[23826,143,8657,75135,202,75136,1130,6137],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85998"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85998"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86000,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85998\/revisions\/86000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}