Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday that Ukraine won’t win the war on the battlefield and that Russia won’t lose.
Orban added, “Today everyone knows, but they don’t dare say that the strategy has failed, as it’s quite clear that the Ukrainians won’t win on the front,” during an interview with Hungarian radio after joining the European Union summit in Brussels.
In contrast, Orban asserted that he presented himself as the only person actively seeking peace in Ukraine, although his controversial stance on Russia appears to have gained an ally within the European Union with the addition of new Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, as both threaten to obstruct EU aid for Ukraine.
Speaking during the interview, Orban pointed out that he saw no reason at all to send money to Ukraine, considering it money paid by Hungarian taxpayers into the budget.
Kiev believes that the Hungarian Prime Minister can block several issues, including financial support from the European Union and the delivery of military equipment, and even veto Ukraine’s application for membership, a decision that requires unanimity among the current members of the bloc.
But so far, European diplomats say that Orban’s threat outside the summit rarely translates into intransigence behind closed doors.
