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During a meeting today with Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a ceasefire in Ukraine and for other countries to help facilitate direct dialogue between Russia and Ukraine.

Following his discussions with Prime Minister Orban, President Xi said, “China has been actively promoting peace talks in its own way and encourages and supports all efforts conducive to peaceful resolution of the crisis. It is in the interests of all parties to have a ceasefire and end the war at an early date and seek a political solution. The international community should create conditions and provide assistance for the two sides to resume direct dialogue and negotiations. Only when all major powers exert positive energy instead of negative energy will this conflict see the dawn of a ceasefire.”

While meeting with Xi, Prime Minister Orban said, China was a “key player” in “creating the conditions for peace in the Russia-Ukraine war.” He added, “This is why I came to meet with President Xi in Beijing, just two months after his official visit to Budapest.” Orban also said that China was an “important” country to the world, mainly through their attempts to support “peace.”

China’s plan:
China has put forward a “six-point peace plan,” co-sponsored with Brazil. Despite Western claims of supporting Russia’s war effort through the sale of tools, parts, and satellite imagery, China asserts its neutrality in the ongoing conflict. Additionally, China has increased trade with Russia, countering the impact of Western sanctions aimed at crippling the Russian economy.

Orban’s visit to China follows recent trips to Russia and Ukraine, where he discussed the possibility for peace in the ongoing war. Currently, Hungary has assumed the presidency of the European Union this month, and Orban has taken on a peace mission, though without the full endorsement of other European leaders.

NATO chief responds:
Following Orban’s trip to Russia (after visiting Ukraine), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg downplayed Orban’s visit, saying, “Prime Minister Orban made it clear when he came to Moscow that he didn’t go there on behalf of NATO, different NATO allies interact with Moscow in different ways.”