(ANSA-AFP) - BEIJING, JUL 8 - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor
Orban met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday,
state media reported, in a visit the European leader has branded
as a "Peace mission 3.0" after recent trips to Moscow and Kyiv.
The unannounced visit comes a day before NATO is due to hold a
summit to mark its 75th anniversary, with setbacks in Ukraine
set to dominate discussions, and follows Orban's surprise trips
to Russia and Ukraine in the past week. Orban, the friendliest
EU leader towards Moscow, held talks with President Vladimir
Putin on Friday about the war in Ukraine during a trip
criticised by both Kyiv and the EU, which said it threatened to
undermine the bloc's stance on the conflict. Putin told Orban,
that Ukraine must withdraw its troops from regions that Moscow
has annexed if it wants peace. Hungary took over the European
Union's rotating presidency at the start of July, and the EU's
foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Orban's trip to Russia
was purely a bilateral affair and he "has not received any
mandate from the EU Council to visit Moscow". (ANSA-AFP).
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