Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban, after trips to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing, sent the leaders of the European Union his proposals for ending Russiaʼs war against Ukraine.
Political adviser to the Hungarian Prime Minister, Member of Parliament Balazs Orbán told about this in an interview with the pro-government newspaper Magyar Nemzet.
According to him, the prime minister sent letters to the leaders of the European Council in which he described his negotiations with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, and also described the Hungarian proposals there. According to the adviser, it became clear to Orban that Ukraine and Russia are very determined to continue fighting and that the war cannot be stopped without the intervention of external mediators.
He called Hungary the only country that can negotiate with all parties. Orbán believes that Hungary can play an important role as a mediator. At the same time, he notes that Europe and the United States should abandon the course of war in order to have a decisive voice in the settlement of the conflict.
Last week, on July 8, the investigative project "System" and "Radio Liberty" wrote that Orban sent a non-public letter to the leadership of the European Union, in which he spoke about Putinʼs confidence in the defeat of Ukraine. In the letter, he mentions the position of the leader of Ukraine in passing, but conveys Putinʼs views in detail — he is sure that "time is on the side of the Russian forces."
- On July 2, Orban came to Kyiv, where he held talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It was his first visit to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war. During the meeting, Orban called the war an invasion of Russia, but asked Zelenskyy for a ceasefire.
- Already on July 5, Orban came to Moscow and met with the leader of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin. One of the key topics of the meeting was the Russian Federationʼs war against Ukraine and its "peaceful settlement". On July 8, Orban came to China as part of his "peace mission". There, the leaders of the countries advocated a peaceful settlement of the war, but without details.
- The leadership of the European Union criticizes Viktor Orbán for his uncoordinated visits to Russia and China, and therefore could not represent the position of the EU. Orban himself called these trips a "peaceful tour." Western media write that the EU already wants to punish Orban and Hungary. Some EU officials have discussed in private conversations the possibility of depriving Hungary of the presidency of the Council of the EU on a rotating basis.