Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told the Russian state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti on March 4 that the time has not yet come for a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
In late January, Olha Stefanishyna, the deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, said Ukraine was working to organize an official visit by Orban, the first in 14 years.
The Hungarian prime minister said before that he had received an invitation from Zelensky to hold a bilateral meeting in the future and accepted it.
As of now, Szijjarto says the meeting of the two leaders requires "some preconditions," the Russian state media outlet wrote.
"At the moment, these conditions for organizing the meeting are far from being ready," the Hungarian minister said without explaining the reasons.
Zelensky and Orban were last seen talking on the sidelines of the inauguration of Argentina's President Javier Milei on Dec. 10, 2023, which Ukraine's president described as a "frank" conversation.
This was followed by Szijjarto's visit to Uzhhorod in Zakarpattia Oblast on Jan. 29, where he met his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and Ukraine's Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak. As a result, Kyiv and Budapest agreed to establish a special commission to deal with the unresolved issues of national minorities.
Hungary has consistently opposed sanctions on Russia, undermined Western aid efforts, and maintained close relations with Moscow since the full-scale invasion began in 2022.
