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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán demanded that the EU begin “direct discussions with Russia on a cease-fire” in the war against Ukraine.
Orban also said that he opposed efforts to find a consensus on Ukraine among the 27 member states of the block. His request was made in a letter to the President of the EU Council, António Costa, who was sent on Saturday and was seen by the Financial Times.
The threat of the most pro-Russian leader in the EU to block any agreement comes after the American president Donald Trump decided to open bilateral peace negotiations with the Kremlin, by bypassing kyiv and in Europe, and the verbal assault of Trump against the chief of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House on Friday.
His letter comes after Brussels has circulated project conclusions for an upcoming EU leaders who include additional military support in Ukraine and a rapid increase in defense expenses for European capital. Zelenskyy was invited to attend the summit, which takes place on Thursday.
“It has become obvious that there are strategic differences in our approach to Ukraine which cannot be filled by writing or communication,” wrote Orban in Costa.
The EU’s orban ambassador made similar points at a meeting of EU envoys in Brussels on Friday, according to people informed of the private meeting.
High European leaders must meet in London on Sunday for a hastily organized summit organized by British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, in order to formulate proposals to collectively protect Ukraine and stimulate defense expenses, reducing the continent’s dependence on America.
Friday’s very public disagreement between Trump and Zelenskyy underlines How far the United States has evolved in recent weeks from its previous position of support sustained for Ukraine against Russia – and the distance now between Washington and its European allies.
The letter from Orban and the comments of its ambassador quoted a resolution of the United Nations Security Council adopted with the support of the United States and Russia this week which did not refer to the invasion of Ukraine by Moscow and demanded a “rapid end of the conflict”. European capitals abstained during the vote.
“THE [UN] The resolution signals a new phase in the history of the conflict and makes all the preceding language by the European Council not relevant, “wrote Orban in the letter to Costa.
