Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he called on Vladimir Putin to immediately end the truce in Ukraine and invited the leaders of France, Germany and Ukraine to meet with the Russian leader in Budapest.
“I suggested to President Putin that he announce an immediate ceasefire,” Orban said at a press conference, noting that the Russian president had initiated the conversation. “His answer was yes, but with conditions,” Orban said, without elaborating.
The Hungarian leader, re-elected on Sunday, added that he had invited Putin to Budapest with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for talks.
Orban had the closest relationship with Putin of any EU leader and today reiterated his disapproval of Hungarian arms sales to Ukraine and an EU embargo on Russian energy imports, on which Hungary is heavily dependent.
Asked about civilians found dead in the city of Bucha, near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, following the withdrawal of Russian troops, Orban said: “All atrocities must be investigated as we live in an era of mass manipulation in which we cannot be sure whether we can we trust our eyes.”
He urged the civilian population to defend themselves “at all costs”, adding: “We want an independent and fair investigation.”