ROME

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni and Pope Leo XIV during a visit to Rome and the Vatican on Monday, discussing with them the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Meloni, who received Orban at her office, said the meeting provided an opportunity to exchange views on key current international issues. She specifically cited “the situation in Ukraine, developments in the Middle East, and the European agenda.”

Meloni said they also discussed the new Security Action for Europe (SAFE) defense spending tool and security synergies.

However, in a talk with Italian reporters, Orban slammed the European Union for "counting for nothing" in its efforts to resolve the Ukrainian conflict. He said he will try to negotiate with US President Donald Trump an end to the recent sanctions imposed on Russian oil, which he sees as having a significant economic impact in Hungary.

"We have outsourced the ability to resolve the war to the Americans and the Russians,” Orban told Italian reporters on the sidelines of the meetings. “Unfortunately, we have no role. Europe is completely out of the picture."

The conservative leader added that he will soon meet Trump “to resolve the oil sanctions issue."

Earlier in the morning, Orban had a private audience with Pope Leo at the Vatican, followed by a meeting with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state.

According to the Holy See, the talks addressed the Catholic Church’s commitment to promoting social development and the well-being of the Hungarian community, focusing "on the role of the family, education, and the future of young people, as well as the importance of protecting the most vulnerable Christian communities."

Attention was also given to the situation in the Middle East and to European issues, particularly the conflict in Ukraine, the Vatican said.

“I asked His Holiness to support Hungary’s anti-war efforts,” Orban wrote on US social media company X after the private audience with Pope Leo.