BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping told Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Monday that world powers should help Russia and Ukraine re-start direct negotiations during a visit to Beijing branded a “peace mission” by the European leader.
Orban´s trip to China comes a day before Nato is due to hold a summit to mark its 75th anniversary, with setbacks in Ukraine expected to dominate discussions, and follows surprise visits by the Hungarian premier to Russia and Ukraine in the past week.
Orban´s trip to Moscow sparked criticism from the European Union, which said it threatened to undermine the bloc´s stance on the conflict, while Kyiv´s foreign ministry said the visit was made “without any agreement or coordination with Ukraine”.
China has refused to condemn Russia´s invasion of its neighbour and last year released a paper calling for a “political settlement” to the conflict, which Western countries said could enable Russia to retain much of the territory it has seized in Ukraine.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV quoted Xi as saying the “international community should create conditions and provide assistance for the two sides to resume direct dialogue and negotiations”.
“Only when all major powers exert positive energy rather than negative energy can the dawn of a ceasefire in this conflict appear as soon as possible,” Xi told Orban, according to CCTV. CCTV said in a readout: “Xi Jinping stressed that it is in the interests of all parties to cease fire and seek a political solution as soon as possible.”
“The current focus is to abide by the three principles of ´no spillover of the battlefield, no escalation of the war, and no fueling of the flames by all parties´ to cool down the situation as soon as possible,” it added. Following the talks, Orban wrote on social media platform X that China was “a key power in creating the conditions for peace” in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Orban -- who said his unannounced trip to Beijing was a “Peace mission 3.0” -- wrote on his Instagram page he would be heading to Washington after Beijing.
Orban, the friendliest EU leader towards Moscow, held talks on Friday with President Vladimir Putin, who said Ukraine must withdraw its troops from regions that Russia has annexed if it wants peace.
Hungary took over the European Union´s rotating presidency at the start of July, and the EU´s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Orban´s trip to Russia was purely a bilateral affair and he “has not received any mandate from the EU Council to visit Moscow”.