Hungary’s PM travels to Washington after talks with China’s Xi

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BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Monday he would go to Washington after discussing a Chinese peace plan for Ukraine in Beijing.

Hungary began its six-month EU presidency in July with a call to “Make Europe Great Again”, echoing former U.S. President Donald Trump, an Orban ally and sharp critic of the EU.

Since then, Orban has visited Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing in what he calls a “peace mission” for the war in Ukraine.

His most recent trip to China came days ahead of a NATO summit that will address providing further support to Ukraine and follows the European Commission confirming last week that it will impose tariffs on imports of electric vehicles made in China.

Nationalist Orban, who is backing Trump’s bid to return to White House, met him in Florida in March but there is no indication yet that they will meet again.

The Hungarian government did not immediately reply to questions sent regarding details of his visit to the United States, which he announced on his social media account.

Orban has refused to send weapons to Kyiv and kept up close economic ties with Moscow since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022. He met Russian President Vladimir Putin last Friday.