Orbán cabinet: the United States puts constant pressure onto Hungary

Reality and an “ideological approach” to politics are “extremely far apart” in international politics today, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told an event in Martonvásár, near Budapest, on Tuesday evening, adding that one example of this was an ongoing effort to “decouple the European and Chinese economies”.

Concerning the war in Ukraine, Szijjártó told a podium discussion that Europe was “suffering from war psychosis”, and some leaders “think they’re playing Fortnite, but this is reality where people are dying there’s massive destruction”.

He said that despite the “inflated liberal expectations”, it was certain that Russia could not be dealt a military defeat in this conflict, given that it is a nuclear power. But Ukraine cannot lose, either, he said, arguing that there would always be a big enough supply of weapons from the West to maintain the status quo.

“If neither side can win, then it’s clear that the whole thing will end with negotiation,” the minister said. “And if no one can win, and negotiations are needed, then the only question left is why not do it tomorrow? Why two weeks from now? Why three months from now? Why a year from now?”

“Each passing day in this war results in more death and destruction,” Szijjártó said, adding that this made the call for an urgent ceasefire and peace talks the only morally acceptable position.

Here is Hungary’s opinion about sending Western troops to Ukraine

He said Europe today was “incapable of creating these conditions”, so an agreement between the United States and Russia was needed. But this, he said, was “also impossible under the current administration in Washington”, adding that it meant that change would be needed in the US’ leadership.

Concerning French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent remarks, Szijjártó warned that sending Western troops to Ukraine would seriously violate the “red line” established by NATO that it was not party to the conflict. “However, given the changes in Europe’s position, this can’t be fully ruled out,” he added.