We are always on the side of peace, never on the side of war.

Hungarians consider it important for China to promote world peace, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbn said Monday in Beijing, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping. In the context of the Russo-Ukrainian war, the Hungarian prime minister said Hungarians are a peace-loving people, according to Hungarian state news agency MTI.

Our people aspire to peace, balance and harmony, which is why “we are always on the side of peace and never on the side of war.”

“For us, China's call for world peace instead of war is of great significance. … We also appreciate your peace initiative regarding the conflict in neighboring Hungary,” Orbn told Xi, who was in Hungary only two months ago. At the time, Orbn called the meeting historic, in which serious agreements were reached and the foundations of the friendship between the two nations were strengthened for generations to come. On Monday, Orbn thanked the Chinese president for elevating the level of relations between the two countries, saying that for the past two months, they have been working tirelessly to give more substance to this form of relations. The premier also praised Xi for the strength and stability that China represents to the world “amid today's turbulent global politics.”

In a Facebook post, Orbn said that the end of the war between Russia and Ukraine depends not only on the warring parties, but also on the three world powers, the United States, the European Union and China. That is why we came to Beijing after my meetings with the warring parties.

The meeting, which Mr Orbn called “Peace Mission 3.0”, was also attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Pter Szijjrt, Minister of European Union Affairs Jnos Bka, State Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office Jnos Mt and Marcell Br, the Prime Minister's Chief National Security Advisor.

Szijjrt said in Beijing that trade and investment cooperation between Hungary and China would continue to provide a solid foundation for economic growth in the years to come. Chinese companies are currently investing HUF 6.4 trillion in Hungary, creating some 25,000 new direct jobs and making Hungary a global center of the automotive revolution and technological revival, he said. He added that starting this summer, 21 direct flights per week will connect Budapest with seven Chinese cities.

“New agreements are also in the pipeline, and we are also negotiating an agreement to resume Hungarian pork and poultry exports, only the technical details remain to be negotiated,” he said, according to MTI.

Viktor Orban arrived in Beijing on Monday on what he called a peace mission to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Last week, the Hungarian prime minister traveled to Moscow in complete secrecy, with the trip not even mentioned by his press chief Bertalan Havasi. The Moscow trip was not communicated in advance to EU member states’ foreign ministries or EU leaders, and key NATO allies such as the US and the UK were not officially informed of the planned Orban-Putin meeting. Commenting on the meeting, the EU’s foreign affairs chief wrote: “Viktor Orban traveled to Moscow exclusively in the context of Hungary’s bilateral relations with Russia. Orban also visited Kiev a few days before his trip to Moscow.” On July 5-6, he attended the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) summit in Azerbaijan.

During her trip to Azerbaijan, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs wrote that Hungary had not received a mandate from the Council of the European Union to develop its relations with the Organization of Turkic States. As an EU Member State, Hungary currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union until December 31.

According to his social media postOrbn's next destination is Washington DC, where he will likely attend the NATO summit.