Orban called on European leaders to start a dialogue with Putin

European leaders should start a dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as this is necessary to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. The corresponding statement was made on May 16 by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"European leaders will have to negotiate with the Russian president sooner or later. This is inevitable," he wrote on the Hungarian government's Facebook page (owned by Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia).

Orban expressed the opinion that peace cannot be achieved as a result of negotiations between the Russian and Ukrainian sides alone.

The Hungarian prime minister also called on European leaders to decide whether to negotiate with Putin before the United States or after.

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Earlier, on May 10, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, responding to a question from Izvestia, said that Putin was ready for contacts with foreign leaders who were interested in this. He noted that the Russian leader remains open to contacts with foreign leaders and is ready for dialogue to the extent that the partners themselves are ready for it.