Other EU leaders have expressed concern over media reports that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban may be meeting with the Russian president. Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday.
Orbán – whose country now holds the EU’s rotating presidency – is the bloc’s only national head of government who has maintained close ties with the Kremlin following the 2022 large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
President of the European Council Carlos Michel said Orban had “no mandate to interact with Russia on behalf of the EU”, while Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk asked for clarification.
Several media outlets reported on Orbán’s apparent upcoming visit, citing their sources.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a media organization funded by the US government, cited a Hungarian government source. He also stated that the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, would accompany Orbán.
Hungary and Russia did not immediately respond to BBC requests for comment.
On Monday, according to the AFP news agency, Orban promised “surprising news from surprising places”.
In a post on X, Michel wrote: “The rotating EU presidency has no mandate to interact with Russia on behalf of the EU.
“The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussion on Ukraine can take place without Ukraine.”
Tusk asked: “The rumors about your visit to Moscow can’t be true @PM_ViktorOrban, or can they?”
Earlier this week, Orban visited Kiev, saying “a quick ceasefire could be used to speed up peace talks.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – who has maintained cool relations with Orban – has not publicly responded to the proposal.
But many Ukrainians believe that any ceasefire would simply cement Russia’s hold on the territory it seized from Ukraine and, if negotiations were to take place, would prefer them to be conducted from a position of strength rather than on the back foot.
Media speculation about Orban’s visit to Moscow arose when President Putin again said he was open to negotiations with Kiev.
The Kremlin leader recently publicly expressed a series of difficult preconditions for such talks, but Kiev and its Western allies say these are tantamount to Ukraine’s capitulation.
Orban has been a vocal critic of Western support for Ukraine. He previously watered down agreement on a €50 billion (£54 billion; £42 billion) EU aid package aimed at supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russia.
Tuesday’s visit to Kiev was his first in 12 years, although he has met Putin repeatedly during that period.
During Orban’s joint appearance with Zelensky, their body language was not warm and neither of them responded to media questions after giving their statements.
But over the next six months, Orban’s position as head of the European Council means he will have an influential role as a figurehead for Europe.
He came to Ukraine on his second day in that role for discussions, saying it was necessary to resolve past differences and focus on the future.
