The Hungarian prime minister accuses US President Biden of having “gone too far”: his predecessor Donald Trump would be the most suitable person for peace talks with Russia.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has called for talks between the US and Russia on a ceasefire in Ukraine – and he is counting on US President Donald Trump, who was eliminated two years ago. “The ceasefire does not have to be between Russia and Ukraine, but between the United States and Russia,” Orbán said in a public interview with Cicero magazine in Berlin on Tuesday, according to the official translation.
“Whoever thinks that this war will be concluded through Russian-Ukrainian negotiations does not live in this world. The reality of power is different.”
Orbán explained that Ukraine could only fight Russian invaders because it received military support from the United States. The war is open today only because the Americans wanted it. “That’s why the Americans need to come to terms with the Russians. And then the war will end.”
“Now this is going to sound brutal…”
Orbán also made it clear that he doesn’t think US President Joe Biden is the right negotiator on the US side. “The American president has gone too far,” he said. Biden has said things about Russian President Vladimir Putin that it is difficult for the two of them to negotiate peace. “What I’m saying is going to sound brutal now. But the hope for peace is called Donald Trump,” Orbán said, according to the translation. After the start of the war, Biden described Putin as a “butcher”, “war criminal” and “murdering dictator”.
The Hungarian prime minister also assumes that a German chancellor, Angela Merkel, could have avoided the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Merkel had previously avoided war in 2014 through her actions after Russia’s annexation of Crimea. “What Angela Merkel did during the Crimea crisis was a masterpiece.” There was no war at the time because Germany’s diplomatic efforts isolated the conflict. “They didn’t let that happen and we all got involved.”
When asked whether it should be taken to mean that, in his opinion, there would not have been a war against Ukraine with Chancellor Merkel, Orbán replied, as translated: “Certainly.” The Hungarian prime minister met with Merkel on Sunday during her multi-day stay in Berlin. Nothing was initially known about the content of the conversation.
Orbán is visiting Berlin for several days and also has German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) during his stay. Orbán described the conversation with him as “fruitful”. “I am pleased to be able to say that he (Scholz) is still alive. So am I,” he said on Monday after the Chancellery meeting, which he said lasted two hours. Both sides can be satisfied with the meeting. All difficult issues have been addressed. Orbán gave no details.
(APA/dpa)