While Brussels seeks to continue the war and arms shipments, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban advocates for peace instead of weapons. A leaked letter reveals that the prime minister urges the European Union to follow the United States’ approach and engage in direct negotiations with Russian leadership to achieve peace.
In the letter addressed to Antonio Costa, Viktor Orban urges the European Council president to ensure that at the March 6 Brussels summit, EU heads of state and government do not adopt written conclusions on Ukraine due to unbridgeable strategic differences regarding support for the country, VG online reports.
The EU draft proposal includes a new 20-billion-euro fund
to supply Ukraine with additional weapons, such as air defense systems, shells, and missiles—as outlined in the first version of the text, leaked on February 27.
The Financial Times, which obtained the letter by Viktor Orban, reports that the prime minister urged the EU to follow U.S. policy and initiate direct negotiations with Russia for peace. Among his recommendations, the Hungarian prime minister suggested that the EU only align itself with the UN Security Council’s February 24 resolution, which calls for peace talks without condemning or labeling Russia as the aggressor.
Cover photo: Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban participating in a videoconference ahead of next week’s EU summit. (Photo: Prime Minister’s Press Office/Vivien Cher Benko)
