Hungary’s Russia-friendly head of government is in Ukraine. It is his first visit since the beginning of the war

Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) —

In his first visit to neighboring Ukraine since Russia’s large-scale invasion, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday that the war was Europe’s “most important issue” and recommended an immediate ceasefire.

Of all the EU leaders, Orban is seen as having the warmest relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. His visit was a rare gesture in the turbulent relationship with Ukraine, with Budapest repeatedly leaning towards Moscow.

The Hungarian prime minister has routinely blocked, delayed or watered down EU efforts to provide aid to Ukraine and sanction Moscow over its war, angering both Zelensky and other EU leaders.

But after talks in Kyiv on Tuesday, Orbán appeared to open the door to a new phase in bilateral relations, saying “the time has come” for such an official visit.

“We are trying to put the disputes of the past behind us and focus on the future,” Orbán said in brief comments to journalists after the talks. “We want the relations between our two countries to become much better.”

Relations between Ukraine and Hungary have been strained since the war began. Orbán portrayed himself as a peace fighter, calling for an immediate ceasefire and peace talks without elaborating on what this would mean for Ukraine’s territorial integrity. On Tuesday, he reiterated his call, saying it would “provide an opportunity to speed up peace negotiations.”

On Tuesday, however, Zelensky said he was “grateful” for the humanitarian aid Hungary had provided to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war. He also said Hungary could play a role in organizing a second edition of the peace summit held in Switzerland last month that brought together dozens of heads of state and government.

“Today we discussed in detail how Hungary can show further leadership in preparing the second summit,” Zelensky said, adding that he wanted the event to take place this year.

Orbán’s visit comes a day after Hungary took over the six-month EU Council presidency, a position that offers little real power but can be used to set the tone of the bloc’s agenda. Hungarian politicians have indicated they will act as “honest brokers” in that role, although some MEPs fear Hungary’s democratic record makes it unsuitable to lead the bloc.

During his visit, the Hungarian prime minister acknowledged the Russian invasion and said his goal in traveling to Kyiv was to “understand how we can help Ukraine in the next six months.”

“The issue of peace is not only important for Ukraine, it is important for the whole of Europe,” Orbán said. “This war that you are now suffering from has profound implications for European security.”

The war is “the most important issue for Europe,” he said.

The Hungarian prime minister, who describes himself as a supporter of “illiberal democracy,” has long been accused by his European partners of dismantling democratic institutions at home and of persistently disrupting key EU policy priorities. The Union has frozen more than $20 billion in financial aid to Budapest over alleged rule-of-law and corruption violations, and Orbán has led numerous anti-EU campaigns portraying the EU as an over-centralized, repressive organization.

In addition, Orbán has long accused Kyiv of mistreating the Hungarian ethnic minority in the western Ukrainian region of Transcarpathia, which he uses to justify his refusal to supply weapons to Ukraine or to allow them to be transferred across the two countries’ common border.

But on Tuesday, Orbán said he saw a “good chance” of making progress on the minority community’s affairs and agreed to a proposal by Zelensky to build a Ukrainian school for refugees in Hungary.

“These families must be taken care of. They need work, they need a livelihood, they need security, they need a good school for their children, they need good teachers,” Orbán said.

His visit comes as he seeks to recruit members for a new nationalist alliance that he hopes will soon become the largest right-wing group in the European Parliament. On Sunday, Orbán met in Vienna with the leaders of the far-right Austrian Freedom Party and the main Czech opposition party and announced the formation of the new group Patriots for Europe.

The trio would need to win over MEPs from at least four other EU countries to successfully form a group in the new European Parliament, which will be elected in June. Right-wing nationalist parties across Europe have strengthened their position in the elections, but ideological differences over the war in Ukraine and cooperation with Russia have often prevented closer alliances between some parties.

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Spike reported from Budapest, Hungary.