UPDATE - China’s Xi hosts Hungarian premier in Beijing

ADDS COMMENT FROM ORBAN

By Alperen Aktas and Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - China’s President Xi Jinping hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Beijing on Monday, where they discussed the conflict in Ukraine.

"China is a key power in creating the conditions for peace" in the Russia-Ukraine war, Orban said after his meeting with Xi.

"This is why I came to meet with President Xi in Beijing, just two months after his official visit to Budapest," he said on X.

The two leaders held talks at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in the Chinese capital.

After landing in Beijing, Orban dubbed the visit as "Peace Mission 3.0.”

Last week, Orban met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss possible proposals to end the conflict in Ukraine, Russia-Europe relations and European security.

Hungary has taken over the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union until Dec. 31.