Hungarian Prime Minister arrived in China on July 8, days after his visits to Kyiv and Moscow. Viktor Orban whose country took over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU earlier in the month, called the visit to Beijing a third step in his “peace mission”.

|China is a key power in creating the conditions for peace in the Russia-Ukraine War. This is why I came to meet with President Xi (Jinping) in Beijing, just two months after his official visit to Budapest”, - wrote Orban on X.

He was greeted by Chinese Foreign Vice Minister Hua Chunying upon his arrival and is later expected to meet Xi.

The Hungarian prime minister’s visit to Moscow and talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 5 sparked anger across the EU. European officials stressed that the presidency has no mandate to conduct any “peace missions” on the EU’s behalf and that Orban’s undertaking is a bilateral effort on Hungary’s part.

Upon talking with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Orban said that the stances of the two countries on peace prospects are “very far apart”.