section_path: Events/Unannounced "peace missions" to Kyiv, Moscow, and Beijing
section_name: Unannounced "peace missions" to Kyiv, Moscow, and Beijing
paragraph_text: Unannounced "peace missions" to Kyiv, Moscow, and Beijing
  
  On 2 July, Viktor Orbán visited Kyiv and asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to consider a ceasefire for the Russo-Ukrainian War, encouraging setting a deadline prior to the next Kyiv peace summit in order to accelerate peace talks.
  
  On 5 July, Viktor Orbán made an unannounced visit to Russia and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to discuss possible ceasefire proposals prior to creating peace terms. The meeting was strongly condemned by several European politicians, especially due to Putin referring to Orbán as "a representative of the European Council " rather than just as a representative to Hungary. Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell responded by saying that Viktor Orbán "does not represent the EU in any way". President of the European Council Charles Michel said that "Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim, the rotating EU presidency has no mandate to engage in dialogue with Russia on behalf of the EU". NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that "Viktor Orbán does not represent NATO at these meetings, he represents his own country". The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned Orbán's visit to Moscow for not coordinating or seeking permission for the visit with Ukraine beforehand.
  
  Following his meeting with Putin, Orbán flew to Beijing on 8 July to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, describing the trip as "Peace Mission 3.0" in a statement on Twitter.
  
  Following the meetings, Germany, Poland, the Baltic states and other member states threatened to boycott EU meetings chaired by Hungary. The European Parliament delayed Orbán's speech to open the Hungarian presidency to as late as September, which parliament officials claimed was to "focus on nominees for the European Commission".
  
  On 15 July 2024, the European Commission announced that several top European Union officials, including European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, would boycott informal meetings held by Hungary as a result of the visits at the "start of the Hungarian (EU) presidency".