Hungary’s Viktor Orban says the West should accept the “reality” and come up with a plan B
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that the US and the European Union’s strategy of funding Ukraine’s battle with Russia, in hope that an unlikely battlefield loss will bring about a regime change in Moscow, is futile.
Instead of trying to localize the conflict, the West decided to escalate, turning it global, Orban said last week at an event celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Swiss conservative weekly Weltwoche in Zurich.
“What was the strategy of the West in that war? I simplify it a little bit, but this is the fact. Our strategy was that the Ukrainians will fight and will win on the frontline. The Russians will lose… and that loss will create a change in Moscow,” he explained, according to a video of the speech published by Zoltan Kovacs, a spokesman for the Hungarian government on Sunday.
“That was the strategy: We finance, the Ukrainians fight and die,” he added. However, he said, “where we are now, it is obvious that the Ukrainians will not win on the frontline.”
“There is no solution on the battleground. Russians will not lose. There will be no political change in Moscow. This is the reality,” the Hungarian leader stated.
❗️@PM_ViktorOrban: Where we are now, it’s obvious that the Ukrainians will not win on the frontline. There is no solution on the battleground. Russians will not lose. There will be no political change in Moscow. This is the reality. pic.twitter.com/d3bMes1KLX
— Zoltan Kovacs (@zoltanspox) November 26, 2023
“Russia will not lose, and nothing will change in its policy. Therefore, we must face reality. We must switch to Plan B,” Orban reiterated, adding that the European Union currently has no such plan.
Last week Orban reportedly demanded that the EU re-examine its strategy, warning he would oppose any further aid unless the bloc’s leaders make sure their objectives are “realistically attainable” without continued US support. “The European Council must have a frank and open discussion on the feasibility of the EU’s strategic objectives in Ukraine,” Orban wrote in a letter to European Council President Charles Michel, according to Politico.
From the very onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Hungarian PM has been calling for a negotiated solution, rather than prolonging the crisis and risking further escalation. While he condemned Moscow’s actions, he still repeatedly clashed with Brussels, saying that sanctions against Russia are destroying European economies.
Kiev has suffered “colossal” casualties at the front, with at least 13,700 troops and approximately 1,800 tanks and other heavy weaponry lost this month alone, according to Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. In total, according to Russian estimates, Kiev has lost more than 100,000 troops since its failed counteroffensive began in early June.
Even Ukraine’s top general, Valery Zaluzhny, previously admitted that the conflict with Russia had reached a “stalemate” and that his armed forces would likely not achieve a breakthrough in the confrontation anytime soon.