Orban Hands Over to EU Plan for Resolving Ukraine Conflict
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has handed over the plan for resolving the conflict in Ukraine with "realistic goals and deadlines" to EU leaders, the political director of the Hungarian prime minister's office, Balazs Orban, said on Monday.
"As a matter of fact, we are talking about Orban's plan, which is now on the table of all EU prime ministers. A realistic assessment of the situation, real goals and deadlines are what our approach is based on," Orban told the Magyar Nemzet newspaper.
According to the official, the role of Hungary should not be overestimated, but neither should it be underestimated that Orban managed to hold several meetings in two weeks that most countries wait years for.
As Balazs Orban stated, Budapest will use its EU presidency period "to create conditions for peaceful negotiations," proposing "political initiatives."
"The Hungarian Prime Minister provided detailed information to EU leaders about his visits. These trips were very important, as currently, our country is the only one with fresh and concrete information on the thinking of the warring parties and key mediators, and how to navigate between different interests," the politician noted.
He emphasized that if Europe is serious about peace, it can create a plan that has "at least a minimal chance of being implemented."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in turn said Monday that Moscow is unaware of the specifics of Orban's proposal for resolving the Ukrainian conflict, which was sent to EU leaders.
"Of course, we do not know what is being discussed in internal correspondence within the European Union, therefore, perhaps there are some details [of proposals for resolving the Ukrainian crisis] that we do not know about. But I repeat once again, we know Mr. Orban's general approach," Peskov told reporters.
Viktor Orban arrived in Moscow on July 5 and met with Vladimir Putin. He called his visit to Moscow the next stage of a peace mission, which began with a trip to Kiev on July 2. The Hungarian Prime Minister expressed his intention to hold several such unexpected meetings soon. He then visited Beijing, where he stated that Hungary opposes confrontation with China and supports EU-China cooperation. After Beijing, Orban went to Washington for the NATO summit, where he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines. He then held talks with former US President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.
After visiting China, Orban stated that the parties to the conflict should resolve the crisis around Ukraine, but the US, China, and the EU have a decisive influence on its resolution. Russian President's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov noted that Orban demonstrated his political will for dialogue, which Moscow considers very positive and useful. EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said that Orban does not represent the EU on the international stage and does not have a European mandate for his visit to Russia, despite Hungary's six-month presidency of the EU Council. Orban responded to Borrell's criticism by saying that due to the "nonsense of Brussels bureaucrats," efforts to establish peace in Ukraine are not yielding results.
