Orbán says he is passing the “baton of peace” to Trump, but does not believe in the victory of the West

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán believes that the war in Ukraine should be ended as soon as possible, and that this was the goal of Hungary’s peacekeeping mission, which will now be able to be continued by US President-elect Donald Trump. He said this at a conference in Budapest dedicated to the results of Hungary’s presidency of the EU Council in the second half of 2024.

“We stood our ground, and today we proudly pass the baton of peace to the new American government. Let’s face it, it suits them more, or rather, corresponds to their scale. Good intentions, courage, diplomatic skills and a Christian sense of duty are valuable, but in the end, peace requires strength,” Orbán said.

Orbán is convinced that the European Union cannot defeat Russia, and therefore should keep diplomatic channels open.

“The Hungarian presidency raised the flag of peace, opened the door to a ceasefire and peace talks, initiated a dialogue with the warring parties and put pressure on European leaders to restore diplomacy and communication… But do we really believe that our troops will march under the flag of the European Union on Red Square in Moscow? If we don’t think so, then we should keep diplomatic channels open for negotiations,” Orbán said.

In his opinion, the EU has already found itself on the losing side because of its strategy of supporting Ukraine and imposing sanctions against Russia.

“Not only Ukraine is at war, but also European economies. Prices are rising rapidly, our money is being spent on the Ukrainian front, sanctions have damaged our companies, and energy prices are undermining European business, which was competitive before the war,” Orban says.

On December 11, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. As stated in the Kremlin’s official statement, the leaders discussed economic cooperation, events in Syria and, in particular, “Ukrainian issues”.

Orbán wrote on the X social network that these are “the most dangerous weeks of the Russian-Ukrainian war” and that Hungary will take all possible diplomatic steps to facilitate a ceasefire and peace talks.

The conversation between Orban and Putin took place at the initiative of the Hungarian side. Two days earlier, Viktor Orbán met with US President-elect Donald Trump and entrepreneur Elon Musk in Florida. After that, at a briefing in Budapest, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto, said that Hungary will continue its peacekeeping mission to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine (Budapest was not authorized to conduct this mission – the legal service of the European Union informed the member states on July 10 that the negotiations , which Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held in Moscow with the leader of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, violated treaties within the EU).

Hungary is one of the few EU countries that, after the start of Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, continues to maintain close relations with the Kremlin. Viktor Orban has repeatedly spoken out against European sanctions against Russia and military aid to Ukraine.