Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called for an in-person meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, describing it as the only realistic path to ending the Ukraine conflict.
In an interview with the Ultrahang YouTube channel published on Thursday, Orban called Trump “the man of peace” but voiced skepticism about the sincerity of other Western governments and officials in Kiev.
“Everyone says they want peace, but there’s still war. That means someone is lying,” he said, accusing some parties of having a vested interest in prolonging the bloodshed. “They want the war to continue, no matter what they say.”
A deal won’t come from Kiev. It must come from Washington and Moscow. Until then, there will be no peace.
“The conflict will not stop until the Russian and American presidents sit down at the negotiating table,” Orban added. He expressed hope that such a meeting could lay the foundation for a broad agreement addressing not only Ukraine, but also global trade and arms control.
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Earlier this week, Trump said he was “very, very unhappy” with Putin and threatened Moscow’s trade partners with “severe” secondary tariffs if no diplomatic progress is made within 50 days.
Budapest has consistently criticized efforts to arm Kiev and opposed its EU and NATO ambitions, warning it prolongs the conflict at growing cost to European economies and taxpayers. Trump has indicated that Washington will no longer fund Kiev’s war effort, but allowed other NATO members to continue purchasing US-made weapons for Ukraine.
Since returning to office in January, Trump has held several phone calls with Putin and has alternated between assigning blame to Moscow and Kiev for the lack of progress. In May, Ukraine agreed to resume direct negotiations with Russia under pressure from Washington. However, talks stalled after two rounds, with Kiev declaring the process “exhausted” and indicating it had only participated to avoid appearing dismissive of Trump’s diplomatic initiative.
Moscow has said it remains committed to achieving its core objectives in Ukraine but prefers a diplomatic solution. The Kremlin has expressed hope that, despite his public statements, Trump is also applying private pressure on Kiev.
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