Hungarian PM Orbán says "Ukraine is losing"

The Prime Minister said it would be a mistake to let Ukraine into the European Union. If we want to give Ukraine support and a geostrategic message, then instead of membership we should

conclude a treaty with Ukraine, let's call it a strategic partnership [...], and there we should specify what support we give for geopolitical reasons.

Orbán said a negotiation on full membership has a completely different basis. According to the Prime Minister, another problem is that parts of the country are under Russian occupation, and its legal borders do not coincide with its actual sovereignty.

With regard to the Russian-Ukrainian war, the PM made it clear that

Ukraine is losing.

He added that

Ukraine is a country that has undoubtedly been overrun and attacked by the Russians, in violation of all international law and human norms, and they [the Russians] have built military outposts on the territory of another sovereign country, in defiance of international law.

According to Orbán, it is now clear that the Western plan to help Ukraine win is not working. There is no Plan B, only this plan for victory.

This has failed,

he stated, adding that only Hungary had no illusions about this [i.e. Ukraine's victory].

I do not see any convincing developments that a continuation of the current strategy will bring a military victory for Ukraine,

he said.

He noted that the war in Ukraine is like the first or second world war in intensity.

Asked whether he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said it was a complete misunderstanding in the West that [Putin] meeting or not meeting Western leaders has any moral content.

Unless there is an absolutely astounding reason, you always have to meet, you always have to negotiate, because you always have to maintain contact on some level to end conflicts,

said Orbán.

In his parliamentary speech on Wednesday, the Prime Minister also explained in detail why the Hungarian government does not support starting accession talks with Ukraine.

Cover photo: In this picture released by the Press Office of the Prime Minister, Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán attends the inauguration ceremony of the new President of Argentina, Javier Milei, in Buenos Aires on 10 December 2023. Next to the Prime Minister is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. MTI/Prime Minister's Press Office/Zoltán Fischer