Hungary’s Putin-friendly PM in Kyiv for peace talks

Kyiv, July 2

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday to consider a ceasefire to accelerate an end to the war with Russia and also said he wanted a big cooperation agreement with Kyiv.

US to give $2.3bn more in military aid to Ukriane

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the US would soon give an additional $2.3 billion in security aid for Ukraine, to include anti-tank weapons, interceptors and munitions.

Orban, who is an outspoken critic of Western military aid to Ukraine and has the warmest relations of any EU leader with Russian President Vladimir Putin, held talks with Zelenskyy during his first trip to Kyiv in more than a decade.

After the talks, Orban said he valued Kyiv’s push to promote Zelenskyy’s vision of peace at an international summit in May in Switzerland and its aim to hold a second, follow-up summit later this year.

“I asked the president to think about whether we could reverse the order, and speed up peace talks with a ceasefire first,” Orban said. — Reuters