TOKYO — Fresh off a controversial visit to Moscow, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban made a surprise stop in Beijing on Monday for talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China “is a key power in creating the conditions” for making peace between Russia and Ukraine, Orban wrote on X, explaining why he came just two months after Xi visited Budapest. Chinese state media reported that Orban briefed Xi on his recent visits to Ukraine and Russia, and that Xi “stressed that an early cease-fire and a political settlement are in the interests of all parties.”