Much is to be Done to Reach Peace Between Russia, Ukraine — Hungarian PM

The talks between Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban lasted for two and a half hours and were also attended by the two countries’ foreign ministers and other members of delegations

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban Alexey Maishev/POOL/TASS

© Alexey Maishev/POOL/TASS

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. Moscow and Kiev’s positions are poles apart and it will take a lot of effort to reach peace, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

He said that in recent 2.5 years Hungary has been one of the few European countries that have been maintaining contacts with both Russia and Ukraine.

"That is why I visited Kiev this week and that is why I am in Moscow now. I see that their positions are a far cry from each other. Many steps need to be taken to get closer to the end of the war," he said after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

The talks between Putin and Orban lasted for two and a half hours and were also attended by the two countries’ foreign ministers and other members of delegations. The Russian delegation also included presidential aides Yury Ushakov and Vladimir Medinsky, who led Russia’s delegation to the talks with Ukraine that were broke down by the West.

Hungary took over six-months EU presidency on July 1. On the following day, Orban visited Kiev and held talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. The Hungarian prime minister advanced ceasefire conditions but Zelensky turned them down, as his office said. Orban explained that he represented European continent, which is interested in peace, and peace, in his words, can be achieved through talks with Russia, but Kiev banned them by Zelensky’s decree.