MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's visit to Moscow and his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin will help find a solution to the Ukraine crisis, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

"The sooner the talks begin, the sooner the ceasefire will be established and fewer people will die," he said on Russia’s Channel One television. "It was a very open discussion and I think it was helpful in terms of finding a solution to this war."

Putin and Orban held talks, which lasted over two and a half hours, in the Kremlin on Friday. The Hungarian prime minister’s visit was the first visit to Russia made by a Western leader since April 2022, and it was held at the request of Budapest.

Hungary took over six-months EU presidency on July 1. On the following day, Orban visited Kiev and held talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. The Hungarian prime minister advanced ceasefire conditions but Zelensky turned them down, as his office said. Orban explained that he represented Europe, which is interested in peace, and peace, in his words, can be achieved through talks with Russia, but Kiev banned them by Zelensky’s decree.