Orbán Asks Zelensky to Weigh Ceasefire With a Deadline

At a joint press conference after the talks, Orbán thanked Zelensky for the invitation and said the sides had agreed on the meeting in Brussels on Thursday. He added that the visit to Kyiv was the first after Hungary took the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.

He said the matter of peace was not only important for Ukraine but for all of Europe, adding that the war had a deep impact on the security of Europe.

Orbán said he greatly appreciated initiatives taken by Zelensky in the interest of peace but added that he agreed with the president that those initiatives would take a long time.

"The rules of international diplomacy are slow and complicated. I asked the president to consider whether the course of events could take a turn with a quick ceasefire and accelerate peace negotiations. I raised the possibility of a ceasefire tied to a deadline that would offer a chance to accelerate peace talks," Orbán said.

The Hungarian PM thanked Zelensky for the candid discussion. He said a report on the talks would be prepared for the European Council on the basis of which the necessary European decisions could be taken.

He pledged Hungary's assistance for Ukraine while it held the EU presidency.

Addressing bilateral relations, Orbán said he had arrived in Kyiv to advance those ties. He assessed the talks on bilateral issues as "constructive". "We're trying to put the debates of the past behind us and concentrate on the period that lies ahead," he added.

Orbán noted that he would like bilateral ties to be much better and wanted to sign a broad cooperation agreement with Ukraine such as the ones signed with other neighbors. He said Hungary would gladly participate in the modernization of Ukraine's economy.

Commenting on the matter of the Hungarian minority living in the west of Ukraine, Orbán said he saw a chance to make progress on the matter. He said he had gladly accepted a proposal by Zelensky for a Ukrainian school in Hungary. He added that the state of Hungary would finance as many such schools as necessary.

Orbán noted that Ukrainians had lived in Hungary before the war, too, and had their own self-government. With the arrival of war refugees, the number of Ukrainians has grown and those families need care, work, and security, while their children need schools and teachers, he added.

He said it was important that Ukrainians should "feel at home" in Hungary.

Zelensky said the sides had agreed to draft a bilateral agreement that would resolve disputed issues.

"Everything we've talked about today serves as the basis for a bilateral document that will regulate every segment of our relations and be mutually beneficial for both countries," he added.