Mr Orban, who took over the six-month rotating chair of the EU on Monday, and his allies in Slovakia are outliers in Europe. They have condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine but have refused to support Ukraine’s military resistance and have said that Mr Zelensky should negotiate a peace deal.
Analysts have said that despite Mr Orban’s intervention the prospects of a quick peace deal between Ukraine and Russia are low to zero.
Mr Zelensky has refused to shift from his position that Russia needs to retreat to its 1991 borders, which means giving up occupied Crimea and swathes of captured eastern and southern Ukraine, and Putin has undermined his ceasefire offers with more aggressive speeches.
Maria Avdeeva, a Ukraine-based commentator on the war, summed up the majority mood in Ukraine after Mr Orban’s visit.
“A ceasefire could accelerate negotiations with Russia, Orban tells Zelensky,” she said. “Oh really? I thought Russia should stop killing civilians and withdraw troops from sovereign Ukrainian territory to speed up negotiations.”