Moscow-friendly Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday called on Kyiv to work for a “quick ceasefire” in Ukraine that could pave the way for talks with Russia to end more than two years of war.

Orban issued the address while standing next to President Volodymyr Zelensky during a surprise visit to Ukraine, his first strong criticism of Western support for Kyiv.

“I asked the president to consider whether … a quick ceasefire could speed up peace negotiations,” Orban told reporters, adding that the proposed ceasefire would be “time-limited.”

Ukraine has repeatedly rejected calls for a pause in fighting, which it says would simply give Russia time to regroup for a new attack.

Meanwhile, the United States on Tuesday announced $2.3 billion in new security assistance to Ukraine.

Unlike many other European leaders, Orban has not visited Kyiv since the Russian invasion in February 2022 and is widely seen as the most pro-Russian leader in the 27-member bloc.

In October 2023, he met Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit in Beijing, becoming the first EU leader to do so since the war began.

The populist leader, in power since 2010, regularly criticizes Europe's financial and military support for Kyiv, temporarily blocking a 50 billion euro ($53 billion) aid package for several weeks.

And he has openly opposed EU membership talks with Kiev, as well as Brussels' sanctions on Moscow – although Budapest has not used its veto to block those moves.

The visit came a day after Hungary took over the EU presidency, giving the central European state control over the bloc's agenda and priorities for the next six months.

Orban said he would report his talks with Zelensky to EU prime ministers “so that the necessary European decisions can be taken.”

Zelensky called the timing of the visit symbolic.

“This is a clear indication of our shared European priorities, of how important it is to bring a just peace to Ukraine,” he said, calling on European countries to maintain military support.

As the two leaders spoke in Kyiv, it was reported that Russian bombing had killed more civilians.

In Nikopol, a city in southern Ukraine, Moscow forces killed two elderly women and wounded nine, the local governor said.

The Russian strike killed one person and wounded seven others in the southern Kherson region, which is partially occupied by Russian troops.

Asked about Orban's visit earlier on Tuesday, the Kremlin said it did not expect much results from him but called him a "tough" politician who zealously defends his country's interests.

A few hours after the talks in Kyiv, Moscow reported that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had a telephone conversation with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto, during which the “Ukrainian crisis” was discussed.

Relations between Orban and Zelensky have been frosty since the start of the war.

After winning re-election in April 2022, Orban said the Ukrainian leader was an "enemy" whom he managed to defeat in the election campaign after Zelensky personally accused him of lacking support in the early days of the Russian invasion.

In December, Zelensky sought out the Hungarian leader at the inauguration of Argentine President Javier Miley for what he called a “frank” conversation.

Videos have circulated online showing the couple engaged in a tense dialogue.

They were filmed again having a short, animated conversation last week on the sidelines of an EU Council meeting in Brussels.

Speaking in Kyiv on Tuesday, Orban said he wanted to “see much better relations” between Hungary and Ukraine, adding that he was “trying to leave the discussions of the past behind.”

Hungary has significant influence over Western support for Ukraine, given its membership in both the EU and NATO, which gives it the ability to obstruct, delay, weaken or completely block initiatives and funding.

However, Orbán's call for a ceasefire before substantive peace talks begin is likely to fail.

Last month, Putin demanded that Ukrainian troops give up even more territory in the south and east if they want to end the fighting – demands rejected by Zelensky as an "ultimatum" reminiscent of Adolf Hitler.

The Ukrainian leader is also seeking international support for his plan to end the war, which includes a complete withdrawal of Russian troops from the country, including the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, and paying for the destruction caused by the February 2022 invasion.

At a major peace summit in Switzerland last month, Hungary agreed to a document that calls for respect for the “territorial integrity” of Ukraine in any final peace settlement.