Von der Leyen criticizes Hungary's Orbán over trip to Russia

Ukrinform reported the information.

"Two weeks ago, a European prime minister went to Moscow. This peace mission was nothing but an appeasement mission," the European Commission President said.

According to her, the world needs to invest more in security and defense. Ursula von der Leyen emphasized that Russia continues to advance in the eastern part of Ukraine and is waging a war of attrition.

She said that they will make next winter even harder than the previous one, adding that "Russia is banking on Europe and the West going soft."

Hungarian PM Orban's "peace mission"

At the beginning of July, there were rumors that Orban plans to visit Moscow after visiting Kyiv.

In turn, President of the European Council Charles Michel reminded that the country holding the EU presidency cannot engage with Russia on behalf of the bloc. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also responded to the news of the Hungarian Prime Minister's trip to Moscow.

On July 5, Orban visited Moscow and met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, calling for a ceasefire.

Following the news of Orban's visit to Moscow, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen expressed her conviction that appeasement will not stop Russian leader Putin.

On July 8, Orban traveled to Beijing to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, discussing "steps to achieve peace in Ukraine." 

During the NATO summit, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and asked for support for his "peace mission" regarding the war in Ukraine.

On July 11, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Donald Trump to discuss the "possibilities of peace" for Ukraine.

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, commenting on Orban's self-proclaimed "peace mission," said that Ukraine would rightly be concerned by any attempt to negotiate a peaceful agreement without involving Kyiv.

EU foreign ministers plan to bypass Hungary by holding their own summit in August instead of attending Orbán's event in Budapest.