Hungary’s Orban holds talks with Xi during surprise Beijing visit, days after meeting Putin

Hong Kong CNN —

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing Monday, days after a controversial visit to Moscow and another to Kyiv that the far-right European leader described as a “peace mission.”

Orban, who has been widely criticized in the West for his Russia-friendly positioning amid Moscow’s onslaught on Ukraine, posted a photo of his arrival at a Beijing airport with the caption “Peace mission 3.0” on social media platform X.

Xi and Orban would discuss “issues of common concern,” China’s Foreign Ministry said Monday in its first statement on the previously unannounced visit. The two leaders began their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse Monday morning, Chinese state media reported.

Orban’s visit comes a day ahead of the start of a NATO summit in Washington, where US President Joe Biden will host leaders from the bloc, which includes Hungary, and rally continued support for Ukraine’s defense.

China is also expected to be on the agenda of that gathering, as NATO leaders have become increasingly alarmed about what they say is its backing for Moscow’s war effort through the provision of dual-use goods and other economic and diplomatic support.

Beijing, Moscow’s most important diplomatic ally, has said it has not provided weapons to either side of the conflict and defended what it calls its strict controls on dual-use exports.

China claims neutrality in the war despite close and deepening ties with Russia, which Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin most recently hailed during a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit last week in Kazakhstan.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban deliver a joint