Hungary’s Russia-friendly leader is in Ukraine. It’s his first visit since the war began

Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has made his first visit to neighboring Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion. He has told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the war is Europe’s “most important issue,” and has recommended an immediate cease-fire. Orban is widely seen as having the warmest relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin among European Union leaders, and his visit was a rare gesture in a tumultuous relationship with Ukraine as Budapest has repeatedly leaned toward Moscow. It comes one day after Hungary took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union, a position that has little real power but can be used to set the tone of the bloc’s agenda.