Hungary's Orbán meets Putin for talks in Moscow in a rare visit by a European leader

MOSCOW (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visited Moscow on Friday for a rare meeting by a European leader with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discussed peace proposals for Ukraine, which triggered condemnation from Kyiv and some European leaders and officials.

Orbán's visit comes only days after he made a similar unannounced trip to Ukraine, where he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and proposed that Ukraine consider agreeing to an immediate cease-fire with Russia.

“The number of countries that can talk to both warring sides is diminishing,” Orbán said. “Hungary is slowly becoming the only country in Europe that can speak to everyone.”

Hungary assumed the rotating presidency of the EU at the beginning of July and, in comments at the beginning of their meeting that were televised, Putin suggested that Orbán had come to Moscow as a representative of the European Council. Several European officials — including the leaders of Germany, Denmark and Estonia — dismissed that suggestion and said Orbán had no mandate for anything beyond a discussion about bilateral relations.

The Hungarian prime minister, widely seen as having the warmest relations with Vladimir Putin among all European Union leaders, has routinely blocked, delayed or watered down EU efforts to assist Kyiv and impose sanctions on Moscow for its actions in Ukraine. He has long argued for a cessation of hostilities in Ukraine but without outlining what that might mean for the country's territorial integrity or future security.

That posture has frustrated Hungary’s EU and NATO allies, which have broadly considered Russia’s actions as a breach of international law and a threat to the security of countries in Eastern Europe.

Orbán said he told Putin that "Europe needs peace,” adding that he asked Putin for his thoughts on existing peace plans and whether he believed a cease-fire could precede any potential peace talks.

In a statement after their meeting, Putin repeated a previous demand that Ukraine withdraw its troops from the four regions that Russia claims to have annexed in 2022 as a condition for peace talks. Ukraine and its Western allies have rejected that demand, suggesting it is akin to asking Ukraine to withdraw from Ukrainian territory.

Putin also emphasized that Russia wouldn’t accept any cease-fire or temporary break in hostilities that would allow Ukraine “to recoup losses, regroup and rearm.”

The two leaders also discussed bilateral relations, and Putin said they exchanged views on the current state of Russia-EU relations which are “now at their lowest point.”

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Orbán's decision to visit Moscow was made “without approval or coordination” with Kyiv. It added that “the principle of ‘no agreements on Ukraine without Ukraine’ remains inviolable for our country” and called on all states to strictly adhere to it.

Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said the visit to Moscow was Orbán’s idea and was only agreed to on Wednesday, according to the Russian state news agency Tass. Peskov added that Moscow valued Orbán’s ”strong, clear and consistent course" aimed at trying to resolve the conflict.

European officials and leaders have heavily criticized Orbán's visit to Moscow, something only one other European leader has done since the start of the conflict.

“This is about appeasement. It’s not about peace,” European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer said.

Hungary at the beginning of the month took over the six-month rotating presidency of the EU Council, a largely formal role that can be used to shape the bloc’s policy agenda. Orbán has said he wants to use the presidency to advocate for an end to the fighting in Ukraine.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said in a statement that Orbán’s visit to Moscow “takes place, exclusively, in the framework of the bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia.”

“Prime Minister Orbán has not received any mandate from the EU Council to visit Moscow," Borrell said, adding that his "position excludes official contacts between the EU and President Putin. The Hungarian Prime Minister is thus not representing the EU in any form.”

He noted that Putin has been indicted by the International Criminal Court and an arrest warrant released for his role in relation to the forced deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Orbán informed him in advance about his travel to Moscow but that he “is not representing NATO at these meetings."

Kaja Kallas, the outgoing Estonian prime minister nominated to become the next EU foreign policy chief, accused Orbán of “exploiting" the presidency and said the Hungarian leader is trying “to sow confusion.”

"The EU is united, clearly behind Ukraine and against Russian aggression,” Kallas, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, wrote Friday on the social media platform X.

In an email on Friday, Orbán's press chief, Bertalan Havasi, said the Hungarian leader's trip comes “as part of his peace mission” — reflecting the image of a peacemaker that the populist leader has cultivated since Putin sent his troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó also joined the trip to Moscow, according to a post on his Facebook page.

Speaking to Hungarian state radio before departing Friday morning, Orbán said he was aware that his country’s presidency of the EU “does not entitle us to negotiate on behalf of anyone.”

Without mentioning reports of his planned trip to Moscow, he said his trip earlier this week to Kyiv did not “need a mandate, because I do not represent anything. The only thing I do is go to those places where there is a war or the threat of war that has negative consequences for Europe and Hungary as well.”

Other EU officials have expressed dismay that Orbán undertook the trip unilaterally and without the approval of the bloc’s member states.

European Council President Charles Michel on Thursday said on the social media platform X that “the EU rotating presidency has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU.”

“The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine,” Michel wrote.

Orbán is the first European leader to visit Russia and sit down for talks with Putin since Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer visited Moscow in April 2022, just weeks after Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine. During that visit he said he raised the issue of crimes allegedly committed in Ukraine by Russian forces.

Spike reported from Budapest, Hungary. Associated Press reporters Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, and Emma Burrows in London contributed to this report.

In this picture issued by the Hungarian PM's Press Office Russian President Vladimit Putin, right, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban are seen during their meeting in the Kemlin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Vivien Cher Benko/Hungarian Prime Minister's Office/MTI via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban shake hands during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Valeriy Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban hold a meeting in Moscow, Russia, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Valeriy Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban shake hands during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Valeriy Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

FILE - Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, arrives for an EU summit in Brussels, June 27, 2024. Orban has arrived in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Orbán’s press chief said Friday, July 5, a rare visit to Russia by a European leader since it invaded Ukraine more than two years ago. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, File)

In this picture provided by the Hungarian Prime Minister's Press Office, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, center, arrives in Moscow, Russia, Friday, July 5, 2024. Orbán has arrived in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Orbán’s press chief said Friday, a rare visit to Russia by a European leader since it invaded Ukraine more than two years ago. (Vivien Cher Benko/Hungarian PM's Press Office/MTI via AP)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Valeriy Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attends a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, Friday, July 5, 2024. (Valeriy Sharifulin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

DEATH VALLEY, California (AP) — After causing deaths and shattering records in the West over the weekend, a long-running heat wave will again grip the U.S. on Monday, with triple digit temperatures predicted for large parts of the East Coast.

The dangerous temperatures caused the death of a motorcyclist in Death Valley.

The U.S. heat wave came as the global temperature in June was record warm for the 13th straight month and it marked the 12th straight month that the world was 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial times, the European climate service Copernicus said in an early Monday announcement.

An excessive heat warning, the National Weather Service's highest alert, was in effect for about 36 million people, or about 10% of the population, weather service meteorologist Bryan Jackson said. Dozens of locations in the West and Pacific Northwest tied or broke previous heat records.

A high temperature of 128 F (53.3 C) was recorded Saturday and Sunday at Death Valley National Park in eastern California, where a visitor died Saturday from heat exposure and another person was hospitalized, officials said.

The two visitors were part of a group of six motorcyclists riding through the Badwater Basin area amid scorching weather, the park said in a statement.

The person who died was not identified. The other motorcyclist was transported to a Las Vegas hospital for “severe heat illness,” the statement said. Due to the high temperatures, emergency medical helicopters were unable to respond, as the aircraft cannot generally fly safely over 120 F (48.8 C), officials said.

The other four members of the party were treated at the scene.

“While this is a very exciting time to experience potential world record setting temperatures in Death Valley, we encourage visitors to choose their activities carefully, avoiding prolonged periods of time outside of an air-conditioned vehicle or building when temperatures are this high," park Superintendent Mike Reynolds said.

Officials warned that heat illness and injury are cumulative and can build over the course of a day or days.

"Besides not being able to cool down while riding due to high ambient air temperatures, experiencing Death Valley by motorcycle when it is this hot is further challenged by the necessary heavy safety gear worn to reduce injuries during an accident,” the park statement said.

Across the desert in Nevada, Las Vegas on Sunday set a record high of 120 F (48.8 C).

Triple-digit temperatures were common across Oregon, where several records were toppled, including in Salem, where on Sunday it hit 103 F (39.4 C), topping the 99 F (37.2 C) mark set in 1960. On the more-humid East Coast, temperatures above 100 degrees were widespread, though no excessive heat advisories were in effect for Sunday.

“Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors,” read a weather service advisory for the Baltimore area. “Young children and pets should never be left unattended in vehicles under any circumstances.”

Rare heat advisories were extended even into higher elevations including around Lake Tahoe, on the border of California and Nevada, with the weather service in Reno, Nevada, warning of “major heat risk impacts, even in the mountains.”

“How hot are we talking? Well, high temperatures across (western Nevada and northeastern California) won't get below 100 degrees (37.8 C) until next weekend,” the service posted online. “And unfortunately, there won't be much relief overnight either."

More extreme highs are in the near forecast, including possibly 130 F (54.4 C) around midweek at Furnace Creek, California, in Death Valley. The hottest temperature ever officially recorded on Earth was 134 F (56.67 C) in July 1913 in Death Valley, though some experts dispute that measurement and say the real record was 130 F (54.4 C), recorded there in July 2021.

Weber reported from Los Angeles. AP journalists Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska, and Walter Berry in Phoenix contributed to this report.

People walk in the sun along the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Las Vegas. The city set an all time record high of 120 F (48.8 C) Sunday as a heat wave spread across the Western U.S. sending many residents in search of a cool haven from the dangerously high temperatures. (AP Photo/John Locher)

People walk through misters along the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Las Vegas. The city set an all time record high of 120 F (48.8 C) Sunday as a heat wave spread across the Western U.S. sending many residents in search of a cool haven from the dangerously high temperatures. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Lucita Corupuz, 80, visiting from St. Louis, covers up from the sun while visiting the University of Washington campus with family Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Seattle. An excessive heat warning — the National Weather Service's highest alert — was in effect for about 36 million people. (Ken Lambert/The Seattle Times via AP)

People cool off in misters along the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Las Vegas. A heat wave is spreading across the Western U.S., the National Weather Service said, sending many residents in search of a cool haven from the dangerously high temperatures. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A water-dropping helicopter drops on flames from the advancing Lake Fire in Los Olivos, Calif., Saturday, July 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Thor Teigen poses in a fur jacket next to a thermometer displaying a temperature of 131 degrees Fahrenheit / 55 degrees Celsius at the Furnace Creek Visitors Center, in Death Valley National Park, Calif., Sunday, July 7, 2024. Forecasters said a heat wave could break previous records across the U.S., including at Death Valley. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

A person cools off in a fountain at Caesars Palace along the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Las Vegas. The city set an all time record high of 120 F (48.8 C) Sunday as a heat wave spread across the Western U.S. sending many residents in search of a cool haven from the dangerously high temperatures. (AP Photo/John Locher)

An egg lays in a small frying pan at the Furnace Creek Visitors Center in Death Valley National Park, Calif., Sunday, July 7, 2024. Forecasters say a heat wave could break previous records across the U.S., including in Death Valley. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

People cool off in misters along the Las Vegas Strip, Sunday, July 7, 2024, in Las Vegas. A heat wave is spreading across the Western U.S., the National Weather Service said, sending many residents in search of a cool haven from the dangerously high temperatures. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Melissa Bolding and Bryan Bolding from Oklahoma City pose for a photo next to a thermometer displaying a temperature of 132 degrees Fahrenheit / 55 degrees Celsius at the Furnace Creek Visitors Center, in Death Valley National Park, Calif., Sunday, July 7, 2024. Forecasters said a heat wave could break previous records across the U.S., including at Death Valley. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

A person wipes sweat from their brow at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, Calif., Sunday, July 7, 2024. Forecasters say a heat wave could break previous records across the U.S., including in Death Valley. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)