Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has demanded the EU begin “direct discussions with Russia on a ceasefire” in the war against Ukraine.
Orban also said he opposed efforts to find any consensus on Ukraine among the bloc’s 27 member states. His demand was made in a letter to EU Council President António Costa which was sent on Saturday and has been seen by the Financial Times.
The threat by the EU’s most pro-Russia leader to block any agreement comes after US President Donald Trump decided to open bilateral peace negotiations with the Kremlin, bypassing Kyiv and Europe, and Trump’s verbal assault on Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House on Friday.