Orbán sends EU cynical letter about “peace for Ukraine” after meeting Putin
Pravda Ukraine
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has written a letter to European Council President Charles Michel and EU leaders after his visit to Russia containing a “summary” of his talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, in which he simply regurgitated Russian propaganda about “peace for Ukraine”.
Source: Orbán’s letter, dated 5 July, obtained by European Pravda
Details: The Hungarian prime minister insists in the letter that he “did not put forward any proposals or express any opinion on behalf of the European Council or the European Union” during the visit, and that any statements to the contrary are “groundless”.
Speaking about his conversation with Putin, Orbán said that the Russian leader’s attitude to the frontline situation “differs significantly from President Zelenskyy’s understanding”.
“Putin did not mention Russian losses in any way. With regard to Ukrainian losses, the Russian side estimates the monthly losses of Ukrainian forces at 40,000-50,000 soldiers, which have increased even more in recent weeks. So he [Putin] was surprised that the Ukrainian president rejected the proposal for a temporary ceasefire,” he said.
The letter says, however, that Putin is prepared to consider a possible ceasefire that “will not serve as a covert redeployment and reorganisation of Ukrainian forces”.
The Hungarian prime minister added that Russia – according to Putin – is only prepared to agree to the conditions set during the talks in Istanbul in April 2022, “especially the fifth paragraph of the document, which defines the international security guarantees that should be provided to Ukraine”. This refers to the veto for the so-called security guarantors for Ukraine in case of the use of force against it, and Russia wanted to see itself among these guarantors.
The letter goes on to say that Moscow is prepared to “exchange views” on the so-called peace proposal put forward by China and Brazil. This “proposal” envisages “peace talks” between Ukraine and Russia and makes no mention of the need to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Orbán dedicated the rest of the letter to repeating his arguments that “Europe needs peace” for economic prosperity, and that the chances of peace are decreasing “because diplomatic channels are blocked and there is no direct dialogue between the parties”.
“Time is a crucial factor in light of the intensification of hostilities and the rapid increase in casualties. Unless we stop this process, we will see more dramatic losses and military developments on the front line in the next two months than ever before,” he said.
Finally, Orbán believes that the United States will be unable to display “political leadership” on this issue in the next few months due to the upcoming presidential elections, so it is necessary to consider launching a “European initiative” in the spirit of “strategic autonomy”.
Earlier, after his trip to Moscow, Viktor Orbán said he had kept these plans hidden from his Western allies until recently and promised more “surprise meetings” in the near future.
Meanwhile, the ambassadors of EU member states intend to raise the issue of Orbán’s visits to Ukraine with his self-proclaimed “peace mission” at the next meeting of the EU Committee of Permanent Representatives.
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