Ukraine's foreign minister says Putin has put Orbán in an awkward position

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said that yesterday's Russian missile attack on Ukraine has put Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, with his "peace mission" to the aggressor state, in an awkward position. Source: Kuleba on the national joint 24/7 newscast on 9 July, as reported by European Pravda Details: Kuleba said Putin had "set Orban up" by launching the missile strike on Ukraine, particularly by attacking the Okhmatdyt children's hospital in Kyiv.

"Orban flew in to Kyiv, and then - I can tell you now, this was not agreed with Ukraine - went to Moscow and China, calling this a 'peace mission', talking about a ceasefire; meanwhile Putin strikes at a children's hospital, at Ukrainian factories, Ukrainian cities, killing dozens of people en masse," Kuleba explained.

"He [Putin - ed.] is putting Orban in a difficult position, because that makes it extremely hard to promote the message that Putin is ready for some kind of peace," he added. The foreign minister stressed that Ukraine had made its position on "peace" clear to the Hungarian prime minister. It contains two mandatory elements: first, no agreements on Ukraine without Ukraine; second, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Peace Formula is the basis to stop the war.

"We're prepared to talk about everything else, but these two principles are absolutely inviolable," Kuleba stressed.

A number of European leaders have criticised Viktor Orban's "peacekeeping" visit to Moscow.  European Council President Charles Michel stressed that Viktor Orban has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU. The EU's chief diplomat also stressed that the Hungarian prime minister's visit was taking place exclusively within the framework of bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia.

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