Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met Vladimir Putin in Moscow for talks about ending the war in Ukraine, Russian state media reported on Friday.

A livestreamed segment of the talks broadcast by Russian state news agencies showed Orbán and Putin shaking hands in the Kremlin, after which Putin said he was “very glad” to see Orbán in Moscow and that they “had a lot to talk about”.

“I expect you will familiarise me with your position and the position of our European partners,” Putin said, reminding Orban of his preconditions for entering into negotiations with Kyiv that he announced on the eve of last month’s Summit on Peace in Ukraine, to which Russia was not invited.

In turn, Orbán thanked Putin for meeting him “even in such difficult conditions” and noted that Hungary would soon “become the only country in Europe to negotiate both with Russia and Ukraine”.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told state news agency TASS on Friday that Putin and Orbán had a “working lunch” planned with their respective delegations, though he stressed the pair would be able to speak tête-à-tête should they wish to.

Putin’s prerequisites for a peace plan, dismissed by Kyiv as a “complete sham” and “offensive to common sense”, include the withdrawal of all Ukrainian troops from the entirety of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, which are only partially under Russian control at present, the lifting of all Western sanctions on Russia, and the full “demilitarisation and denazification” of Ukraine.

Orbán’s visit to Moscow follows his surprise visit to Kyiv on Tuesday where he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to consider a ceasefire with Russia to “speed up” potential peace negotiations between the two countries.