Washington, 12 July 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met with former US president Donald Trump on Thursday, shortly after attending a NATO summit in Washington.

Orbán shared a picture of their meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on social media plaform X, writing: "Peace mission 5.0 ... We discussed ways to make #peace. The good news of the day: he's going to solve it!"

Orbán has maintained good relations with Trump since the former US president's election victory in 2016. The two men last met in March, after which Orbán referred to Trump as the "president of peace," while Trump called Orbán a "fantastic leader."

Trump aims to reclaim the White House for the Republican Party after the US presidential elections in November, seeking to replace President Joe Biden who is expected to run for the Democrats again.

In the days leading up to the NATO summit held in Washington this week, Orbán made headlines with surprise visits to Russia, Ukraine and China, a trip he labelled his "peace mission."

The trip to Moscow in particular, which came as Hungary took over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union in July, sparked ire from Orbán's EU and NATO allies.

Several EU officials, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, later stressed that the Hungarian leader had no official EU mandate for negotiations with Russia.

At the end of the NATO summit in Washington, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, representing Orbán who had left early for Florida, caused a stir by accusing NATO partners of double standards and failure in dealing with Russia's war against Ukraine.

Photo: Viktor Orban Office X