Géza sent reinforcements to Iziaslav II who again reoccupied Kiev before April 1151. Three months later, Volodimirko of Halych routed a Hungarian army that was marching towards Kiev. Frederick Barbarossa, the newly elected King of Germany, demanded the German princes' consent to wage war against Hungary at the Imperial Diet of June 1152, but the princes refused him "for certain obscure reasons", according to Otto of Freising.

Géza invaded Halych in the summer of 1152. The united armies of Géza and Iziaslav defeated Volodimirko's troops at the San River, forcing Volodimirko to sign a peace treaty with Iziaslav. Pope Eugenius III sent his envoys to Hungary to strengthen the "faith and discipline" of the Hungarian church. Géza forbade the papal envoys to enter Hungary, which shows that his relationship with the Holy See had deteriorated.