European leaders scoff at Orbán’s latest Putin love-in

European leaders slammed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s visit to Moscow on Friday, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During a press conference with his Slovenian counterpart in Berlin, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Orbán had showed up at the Kremlin “without a European mandate.”

Merz said he wasn’t surprised by Orbán’s actions, as this was not the first time he’s acted autonomously, but doubted that the Hungarian leader would help stop the war in Ukraine.

Orbán “has his own ideas about how to end this war. So far, they have not been realized,” Merz said.

The German chancellor said he had doubts about whether Orbán “will be more successful this time than last time.”

Orbán last visited Moscow in July 2024, portraying himself as being on a “peace mission.”

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob agreed with Merz, saying he hoped Orbán’s visit will “not cause any major damage.”

“We do not expect any benefits or advantages from this visit,” Golob said.

Meeting with Putin, Orbán said Budapest would be ready to host a summit between Russia and the United States to discuss a peace plan in Ukraine.

“Hungary is interested in peace … Hungary is ready to host such talks and to provide assistance in the successful completion of this process,” Orbán told the Russian president during the meeting.

Putin thanked the Hungarian leader, adding that the idea to consider Hungary as a possible spot for a meeting emerged from Washington.

“It was Donald [Trump]’s proposal. He said right away: ‘We [both] have good relations with Hungary, you have, and so do I, so I am proposing this option,'” Putin said.

Putin added that he would be “pleased” to come to Budapest in case “negotiations with the U.S. will lead to that.”

Friday’s meeting marks the second time Orbán has met with Putin in Moscow since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. The July 2024 meeting, during Hungary’s turn helming the rotating six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union, took EU leaders by surprise.

European leaders, including Estonia’s then-Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, condemned the trip. Kallas is now the EU’s foreign affairs chief.

“He is exploiting the EU presidency position to sow confusion,” said Kallas at the time. More recently, Orbán blocked prolonging EU sanctions against Russia and financial support for Ukraine, which require unanimous support from member countries.

In an interview with Mathias Döpfner, CEO of German media group Axel Springer (which owns POLITICO), he criticized the EU for supporting Ukraine, saying that Kyiv has “no chance” at winning the war.

The Hungarian leader, whose country is dependent on Russian energy supplies, has also secured a yearlong exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian oil.

Before Friday’s meeting, Orbán said in a statement on X that he was going to Moscow to secure oil and gas deliveries to Hungary, in order to ensure they remain “secure and affordable.”