Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has met with China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing, a visit he himself calls "peace mission 3.0".
The trip to Beijing follows two surprising visits to Russia and Ukraine last week, which were carried out as soon as Hungary took over the presidency of the EU Council of Ministers. The visit to Moscow has been heavily criticized by both EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
China is a key force in creating conditions for peace in Ukraine, says Orbán in a post on X.
"That's why I came to meet President Xi in Beijing, just two months after his official visit to Budapest", continues Orbán.
Viktor Orbán has since Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine gone against the other EU countries on the terms of peace, sanctions against Russia, and relations with the Kremlin.
Orbán and Xi Jinping met to have "in-depth communication on issues of mutual interest", according to Hua Chunying, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Beijing presents itself as a neutral party in the war and says it does not send weapons to either side, but its strategic partnership with Russia has grown stronger since the war began. Among other things, trade between the two countries is flourishing.
