Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is not an acceptable mediator for any future peace negotiations to end the ongoing war between his country and Russia.
Zelensky, speaking at a news conference in Poland, insisted that only larger nations or the European Union could successfully partake in such a task.
The comments came as Orban, who assumed the rotating E.U. presidency this month, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing this week after earlier visits to Kiev and Moscow for what the Hungarian leader called the third stop of his "peace mission 3.0."
Orban’s efforts brought rebuke from E.U. members who confirmed that he was negotiating without approval from the political organization.
Orban is often seen as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s closest ally in the E.U. and NATO and he has been criticized in the past for opposing efforts from Western Europe to assist Ukraine in its defense from the current invasion.
