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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has hailed China as a “key power” for promoting peace in Ukraine during a visit to Beijing, the latest in a flurry of high-profile diplomacy after surprise trips to Kyiv and Moscow last week that irked EU and Nato allies.
Orbán landed in the Chinese capital on Monday for what he called a “Peace mission 3.0” in a post on social media platform X. The Hungarian prime minister, whose country took over the rotating EU presidency last week, has made working towards a possible end to the war in Ukraine a top goal.
At China’s Diaoyutai state guesthouse, Orbán praised his hosts as “an important stabilising force” in the world.
“China not only loves peace but has also put forward a series of constructive and important initiatives,” he told President Xi Jinping, according to Chinese state media. China has put forward a position paper on a “political settlement” to the war in Ukraine, which western powers have dismissed as compromised by Beijing’s backing of Moscow.
Xi commended Orbán’s efforts and called on world powers to support Russia and Ukraine resuming direct dialogue. “A ceasefire can only be realised soon if all major powers exert a positive rather than negative influence,” Xi said.
Under Orbán, Hungary has built friendly ties with China, becoming a first-stop destination for Chinese companies seeking to break into Europe. Orbán’s embrace of Beijing has also made him a critical entry point for Chinese officials to navigate EU politics.
In May, Xi visited Budapest, where he praised the country’s “independent” foreign policy and upgraded bilateral relations. Orbán’s criticism of the EU’s recent tariffs on Chinese auto imports were also warmly received by Beijing.
Hungary holds the EU’s rotating presidency for six months and Orbán has attempted to thrust himself into efforts to end the Ukraine war. He met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday, days after making a surprise visit to Kyiv.
Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential office, told reporters on Monday that Orbán did not notify President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in advance that he would be making the trip to Moscow. Kyiv learned it “in the media”, Yermak said.
Orbán’s outreach to Russia and China has dismayed other EU leaders, who last week warned that he did not represent the EU in his meeting with Putin.
The EU presidency has little influence over foreign affairs, which is handled by the bloc’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell and European Council president Charles Michel. The role “does not entail any external representation of the Union”, Borrell said last week.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesperson, said the Kremlin had not given Orbán a message to deliver to western leaders ahead of this week’s Nato summit in Washington, but said the Russian president “highly valued” Orbán’s efforts.
“There is a whole collection of serious disagreements between the interested parties, but Mr Orbán is making a very serious effort indeed to understand their nature,” Peskov told reporters on Monday, according to Interfax.
Xi nonetheless congratulated Hungary on assuming the EU presidency, and expressed hope that Orbán could play a positive role in “promoting healthy and stable development and constructive interaction in China-Europe relations”.
Jorge Toledo, the EU’s ambassador to China, made clear over the weekend that relations between the bloc and China remained “tense”, however.
Speaking at Tsinghua University in Beijing, Toledo said it was “very disappointing” that China had not attended a peace conference on Ukraine in Switzerland last month.
“Not participating in Geneva activities harms China’s image,” Toledo said, according to a transcript from Tsinghua.
Additional reporting by Wenjie Ding in Beijing, Christopher Miller in Kyiv and Raphael Minder in Warsaw