Putin-Orbán Meeting – A Sign Of Faltering EU Unity On Its Support For Ukraine?

 

Just two days after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán made an unusual gesture for the head of a NATO and EU member state by shaking hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Czech President Petr Pavel urged European leaders not to “fall” for Putin’s strategies.

Prior to a global discussion on the Belt and Road Initiative, one of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s defining projects, Orbán and Putin met on Tuesday in Beijing. According to the office of the Hungarian leader, their meeting was centered on energy cooperation and peace.

The meeting between Putin and Orbán infuriated Western leaders. “Putin does not meet European leaders with the aim of achieving peace in Ukraine,” Pavel claimed in a written letter to The Guardian. “He is only holding these meetings” to sever Europe’s cohesiveness, Pavel added.

Images of Orbán shaking hands with Putin were regarded as “very, very unpleasant” by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. Meanwhile, the US ambassador to Hungary, David Pressman, stated: “While Russian strikes Ukrainian civilians, Hungary pleads for business deals.”

Due to Moscow’s harsh “Special Military Operation” in Ukraine, Western leaders have mostly avoided communicating with Putin. Putin can use the encounter with Orbán as evidence that the EU’s backing for the Kyiv administration is losing its cohesion.

Putin visited Beijing for the forum and made a rare trip outside of Russia to meet with other world leaders. Aleksandar Vui, the president of Serbia, claimed on Tuesday that he had a brief meeting with Vladimir Putin; this encounter is expected to cause anxiety throughout Europe.