[4] On 2 July, Viktor Orbán visited Kyiv and asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to consider a ceasefire for the Russo-Ukrainian War, encouraging setting a deadline prior to the next Kyiv peace summit in order to accelerate peace talks.

[5] On 5 July, Viktor Orbán made an unannounced visit to Russia and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to discuss possible ceasefire proposals prior to creating peace terms.

Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell responded by saying that Viktor Orbán "does not represent the EU in any way".

President of the European Council Charles Michel said that "Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim, the rotating EU presidency has no mandate to engage in dialogue with Russia on behalf of the EU".

The European Parliament delayed Orbán's speech to open the Hungarian presidency to as late as September, which parliament officials claimed was to "focus on nominees for the European Commission".