Orban suggests summit with Merz and Macron to negotiate peace

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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán proposed this Friday a summit with the Russian president on peace in Ukraine, with the European Union (EU) represented by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron.

"We call for a summit between the EU and Russia as soon as possible and before the US-Russia summit," Orbán told Kossuth public radio.

"My proposal is that the German chancellor and the French president travel to Moscow to negotiate on behalf of the EU, not its leaders, because we have already seen in the tariff negotiations (with the US) that this is not enough," said the Hungarian prime minister.

The minister alluded to the agreement between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Donald Trump on tariffs, which was criticized by several EU leaders, including Orban himself.

He stressed that the war in Ukraine “is in Europe” and therefore urged the EU to be “ more proactive ”, otherwise it will only play a secondary role .

Russian President Vladimir Putin and White House envoy Steve Witkoff met this week in Moscow, and Trump said after the meeting that the door was open for a summit to move toward peace between himself and the presidents of Ukraine and Russia.

Meanwhile, a Kremlin adviser on international policy announced that Putin and Trump will meet in the coming days.

Orbán is an ally of Putin, and Hungary, a member of NATO and the EU, refuses to supply weapons to Ukraine so it can defend itself against the attack launched by Russia three years ago.