Orbán's visit to Moscow discussed gravely at Ukraine-NATO Council, Zelenskyy says
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
NATO states condemned the trip of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to Moscow. The NATO-Ukraine Council had a serious discussion on the matter, says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a press conference.
The president believes that Orbán's visit to Ukraine is good in any case, as Ukraine and Hungary have had no relations.
"We need to have strong, friendly relations, at least we need to first build pragmatic relations. There are many of our people there. So, I think his visit to Ukraine was right," Zelenskyy said.
He adds that if the head of the Hungarian government used his trip to Kyiv to make himself feel comfortable visiting Russia afterward, it was wrong. As Zelenskyy stressed, he does not support this visit.
"EU states have condemned him on this matter, as have NATO. At the meeting of our Council (Ukraine-NATO), although it was closed, it was clear that there was a very serious conversation. It was an adult conversation about the fact that no NATO member can have a pro-Russian policy," Zelenskyy said.
But he clarifies that Ukraine should try to build relations with Hungary.
Background
Earlier, Orbán visited Kyiv. During a meeting with Zelenskyy, he suggested Ukraine a ceasefire, as this could allegedly create conditions for negotiations.
After this trip, the Hungarian prime minister immediately went to Moscow, where he met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, where he also discussed Russia's war against Ukraine.
The EU sharply criticized Orbán's visit. It emphasized that the Hungarian prime minister has no mandate to engage in dialogue with the Russian authorities on behalf of the European Union.
