Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán has informed NATO before his planned visit to Russia, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said today, quoted by DPA and Reuters, writes BTA.
"Hungary has informed us of this upcoming visit," Stoltenberg told a press conference ahead of next week's NATO summit in Washington. He added that he expected the allies to discuss in Washington Orbán's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the "discussions he held in Moscow".
"Of course, Viktor Orbán does not represent NATO at these meetings. He represents his own country," Stoltenberg stressed.
The NATO Secretary General added that so far Russia has not significantly changed its position on the war in Ukraine and there are "no signs that Putin is ready to negotiate for peace.
"Ukraine must decide what are the acceptable terms for peace talks and any negotiated settlement," he said, noting that NATO is helping Ukraine prepare to join the military alliance.
"All the work we are doing is to make Ukraine stronger and better prepared to join our alliance," Stoltenberg said. He added that he expects NATO countries to provide more funds for air defense and ammunition to Ukraine.
In addition, Stoltenberg congratulated the leader of the British Labor Party Keir Starmer for winning the parliamentary elections in the country.
"He is a strong supporter of NATO, of the transatlantic alliance," Soltenberg said.
Ukraine's foreign ministry, for its part, said Orban's visit to Moscow, which followed his trip to Kiev earlier this week, was not coordinated with Ukraine.
"We remind you that for our country the principle "no agreements on Ukraine without Ukraine" remains steadfast and we call on all countries to strictly abide by it," the ministry said in a statement.
Kiev considers its 10-point peace plan and the international summit based on it as the only realistic way to end the war with Russia, which has been going on for more than 2 years now.
In addition, Stoltenberg confirmed that the alliance will provide Ukraine with military aid worth 40 billion euros next year. Allies have agreed to maintain this financial commitment into 2026 as the minimum level necessary to meet Ukraine's defense needs against Russian invasion.
NATO leaders are gathering in Washington next week to mark the alliance's 75th anniversary and send a strong message of support to Ukraine. However, the €40 billion pledge is not the multi-year financial commitment to support Ukraine that Stoltenberg wanted the allies to agree on. The alliance will review its military aid next year.
The multi-year financial commitment was part of the NATO secretary general's attempt to bolster the alliance's support for Ukraine in the event that Donald Trump returns to the US presidency early next year.