"We talk as if this is an endless war, but it isn't. The Ukrainians have lost and the Russians have won this war," Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban said in an interview on 12/8.
Prime minister Orban is considered the most pro-Russia leader among European leaders. He has repeatedly opposed Ukraine joining the European Union (EU) and NATO due to concerns about unpredictable consequences for European geopolitics. He has also been criticized by several European leaders for opposing military aid to Ukraine.
"The only question is when and under what circumstances the West, who are backing Ukraine, will acknowledge this outcome and where that will lead," Orban added.
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Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban speaks to the press in Brussels, Belgium, on 26/6. Photo: AFP |
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban speaks to the press in Brussels, Belgium, on 26/6. Photo: AFP
The comment came a few days before the summit between US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin in Alaska. On 11/8, Orban was the only national leader in the EU who did not endorse a joint statement that Ukraine should have the right to freely decide its own future.
According to Orban, Europe missed the opportunity to negotiate with president Putin under the Joe Biden administration and now faces the risk of not being able to decide its own future.
"The American and Russian leaders are sitting at the negotiating table, but Europe is not invited. If you're not at the negotiating table, you've become the target," the Hungarian prime minister said, adding that he opposed the EU's joint statement on Ukraine partly because it made Europe "look foolish and pathetic".
Ukraine and the EU have not yet commented on Orban's statement.
The summit between Putin and Trump will take place in Alaska on 15/8. The US president is expected to put pressure on Putin to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Russian deputy foreign ministry spokesperson Alexey Fadeev said on 13/8 that Moscow's position on the conditions for ending the conflict had been outlined by president Putin since 6/2024 and remains unchanged: Ukraine must abandon its ambition to join NATO and withdraw all troops from the 4 regions Russia claims to have annexed: Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson.
Huyen Le (Reuters, RT)
