Orban visits Kyiv for the first time since the war – DW – 02.07.2024

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov is holding talks with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in Washington to discuss stronger military cooperation between the two countries.

“Secretary Austin and Minister Umerov will discuss bilateral defense cooperation, regional security issues, and opportunities to strengthen the defense partnership between the United States and Ukraine,” Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said at a press conference.

The talks follow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterating his appeal to allies for more weapons after a Russian airstrike in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region killed seven people.

The United States has been the largest single donor of military assistance to Ukraine since the large-scale invasion, providing the country with over $50 billion in military aid since 2022.

Russia said it destroyed five Ukrainian SU-27 fighter jets and damaged two others at Ukraine’s Myrhorod airfield in the central Poltava region.

The Russian Defense Ministry released footage of the attack, showing smoke and flames rising from an airfield. It did not specify when the attack took place, but said it was carried out using Iskander-M missiles.

“As a result of the Russian attack, five active SU-27 multi-role fighters were destroyed and two were damaged,” the Russian ministry said.

Russia is particularly interested in attacking Ukrainian airfields as Kyiv prepares for the arrival of the first American-designed F-16s, which Moscow has promised to destroy.

Ukraine said the airfield had been hit, but said the Russian claim was exaggerated. However, no details of the damage were given.

“There was an attack. There are some losses, but not those that the enemy claims, after all, he has always done so since the beginning of the invasion,” Ukrainian Air Force official Yuriy Ihnat wrote in a statement.

The Hungarian Prime Minister visits Ukraine for the first time since Russia’s large-scale invasion.

Viktor Orban arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday morning for planned talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

It is expected that Orban and Zelensky will discuss ways to create peace as well as bilateral relations between Hungary and Ukraine.

Orban has “arrived in Kyiv for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky,” said his press spokesman Bertalan Havasi.

Orban is the only EU leader to have maintained relations with Russia since the 2022 invasion and is said to have a warm relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Hungarian Prime Minister publicly criticized Europe’s financial and military aid to Kyiv and blocked a 50 billion euro aid package for weeks.

Orban met Putin at a regional summit in Beijing in October 2023, becoming the first EU head of state or government to do so since the war in Ukraine began.

The nationalist politician, in power since 2010, also condemned Brussels’ efforts to start formal accession talks with Kyiv through the European Union, but abstained rather than veto the vote.

rc/fb (AFP, Reuters)