PM Orbán: Russia has won, Ukraine has lost war

Russia has won and Ukraine has lost the war between the two countries, PM Orbán said in an interview on the Patrióta YouTube channel on Tuesday.

Speaking with security policy expert György Nógrádi, Orbán said the way Europe could have remained in control of its future was if it had negotiated with Russia, but Russia was now negotiating with the United States on a variety of issues, including the future of Europe.

Orbán said the war between Russia and Ukraine was still being talked about as if it were an open-ended conflict, “but it isn’t”. “The Ukrainians have lost the war. Russia has won this war,” the prime minister said, adding that the only question was when and how the West would admit that this was the case, and what would follow from it.

Ukraine does not capitulate due to the Europeans, Orbán said

“The Ukrainians are in a very difficult position, the Ukrainian president especially … because the only reason why Ukraine isn’t capitulating is because the Europeans and — increasingly less so — the Americans are supplying it with weapons and money,” Orbán said.

He said the Hungarian government had always insisted that Europe, or specifically France and Germany, had to negotiate with Russia.

“Europe’s future would have remained in its own hands if we Europeans had negotiated with the Russians on Europe’s future, but now the Russians and the Americans will be discussing a number of issues, including the future of Europe,” Orbán said in connection with Friday’s Russia-US summit. “But we’re not the ones negotiating.”

Ukraine EU membership against Hungary’s interests

Hungary’s interests lie in the country never being members of the same bloc as Ukraine, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in an interview on the Patriota YouTube channel, arguing that giving Ukraine European Union membership would lead to Hungary’s impoverishment.

“We can’t be soulless or irrational,” Orbán said, adding that “something must be done with the Ukrainians.” He said the EU should form a strategic alliance with Ukraine, but warned against admitting the country to the bloc, “because then it couldn’t be expelled”, and Hungary would “only lose out” on Ukraine’s EU accession.

Trump-Putin meeting to also cover global economic issues

Apart from the war, major global economic issues will also be covered at the upcoming meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Orbán said.

Viktor added that the question was whether in the wake of conflicts there would be a unified global economy, and a system of cooperation would emerge based on a new equilibrium, or the global economy would be divided into blocs. He added that this would also significantly affect the development of the Hungarian economy.

Orbán said the world was “not too tolerant” of the US and Europe having “dug themselves into a war, and all the other problems in the world taking a back seat”. President Trump had broken out of this and was trying to settle open issues one by one, he added.

The Russia-Ukraine war was important, Orbán said, adding that other equally or more important matters would also be discussed at the upcoming summit.

Ukraine’s collapse not in Hungary’s interest

The Ukrainians know full well that it’s not in Hungary’s interest to trigger Ukraine’s collapse, because a Ukraine that is collapsing next to Hungary would pose a threat and a risk to public safety and the life of the Hungarian minority which Hungary doesn’t want to take, Orbán said.

Speaking with security policy expert György Nógrádi, Orbán said “the reason why the Ukrainians are so disrespectful to us — even though in some ways we’ve got them in our hands — is because they know that Ukraine’s destabilisation is not in Hungary’s interest.”

Hungary does not have an interest in Ukraine collapsing, “even though we could bring it about in a single day” Orbán said. Ukraine receives a significant share of its electricity and gas from Hungary, “and if some accident were to happen, and some poles fell over or some power lines broke, Ukraine would come to a stop”, the prime minister said.

“So, while Ukraine talks to us in a way that normal people don’t, they’re also at our mercy,” he added. “Our interest lies in a stable and functioning Ukraine, and the Ukrainians are abusing this situation,” he said.

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