EU sends warning as Hungary’s Orban reportedly meeting Putin days after surprise Ukraine visit

Hungary holds the rotating presidency of the EU

Hungary's prime minister Viktor Orban and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky at a joint news briefing in Kyiv yesterday. Photo: Reuters

Anastasiia Malenko

Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban – whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU - is reportedly scheduled to meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday, drawing criticism from the leadership of the EU.

It would be the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine that Putin and Orban have met inside Russia. Orban, who has maintained a closer relationship to Moscow than other EU leaders since the invasion, visited Russia in 2022 without meeting Putin, and has met him in other countries.