Orban has been saying that Hungary is not in favour of sanctions imposed by E.U. on Russia.
The Prime Minister of Hungary – Viktor Orban has said that European Union (E.U.) needs a new strategy on the war in Ukraine as punitive sanctions against Moscow have not worked.
Orban, who got re-elected for a fourth consecutive term in April 2022, has already clarified that Hungary would stay out of the Russia-Ukraine war. Orban has been saying that Hungary is not in favour of sanctions imposed by E.U. on Russia. Hungary is hugely dependent on Russia for its gas requirements and hence would not like to rebel against it. Hungary is also a member of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Orban is also facing his toughest challenge since taking power in 2010, with inflation in double digits, a weak forint currency (the basic monetary unit of Hungary) and E.U. funds which have been on hold due to Hungary’s non-compliance with rule of law. In such a scenario, cutting on gas requirements from Russia would make the economy collapse.
Speaking on the occasion, Orban said, “We are sitting in a car that has a puncture in all four tyres: it is absolutely clear that the war cannot be won in this way. A new strategy is needed which should focus peace talks and drafting a good peace proposal instead of winning the war.”
He said that Western strategy of sanctions is built on 4 pillars – (i) Ukraine can win a war against Russia with NATO weapons; (ii) Sanctions would weaken Russia and destabilise its leadership; (iii) Sanctions would hurt Russia more than Europe and (iv) The world would line up in support of Europe.
He said that the strategy has failed as Governments in Europe are collapsing and are struggling to keep the rising energy prices in control. He even warned that Ukraine will never win the war this way quite simply because the Russian army has asymmetrical dominance. He called on the Russian and United States (U.S.) Governments to hold negotiations as that is the only way to end war because Russia wants security guarantees which only U.S. can give. He even said that Western leaders should have not neglected Russia’s security concerns before it invaded Ukraine.
He further said, “With US President [Donald] Trump and German chancellor [Angela] Merkel, this war would never have happened.”
Meanwhile, the President of Ukraine – Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his forces are advancing step by step into the occupied Southern region of Kherson. Kherson city fell to Russia early in the war and is on a strategic location West of the river Dnipro.
The Ukrainian advance means that Russian supply lines West of the river are increasingly at risk. Earlier this month, the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine – Iryna Vereshchuk urged Kherson residents to evacuate the city as soon as possible to avoid becoming trapped in the city during a counteroffensive in southern Ukraine.
Ukraine is targeting river crossings in the region in an effort to stretch Russia’s supply lines. On Saturday, an artillery strike hit the Daryivskyi bridge across the Inhulets river, a tributary of the Dnipro. Ukraine also claimed that around 1,000 Russian troops in the region have been encircled by Ukrainian forces.
Russia captured Kherson with relatively little resistance early in the war, and the failure of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) to destroy crossing points over the river Dnipro.
