Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that Ukraine is no longer a sovereign state, as it has become dependent on the support of the West, in particular, the will of the United States.
He told about this in an interview with the German newspaper Bild.
Orban spoke about the fact that he is in favor of a cease-fire in Ukraine as soon as possible. At the same time, according to him, he knows that the leadership of Ukraine seeks the liberation of all territories occupied by Russia.
"But what really matters is what the Americans want to do. Ukraine is no longer a sovereign state. They have no money. They have no weapons. They can only fight because we support them in the West. So if the Americans decide they want peace, there will be peace," said the Hungarian Prime Minister.
Orban said that the belief in Ukraine's ability to win the war is a complete misunderstanding of the situation.
"I think that the way the Ukrainians are fighting on the front lines, and we support them financially, with information, with tools, and they can win the war against Russia, is a misunderstanding of the situation. This is impossible... I am talking about the end of the war, and the problem is that that the Ukrainians will run out of soldiers earlier than the Russians, and this will be the decisive factor in the end," Orban said.
He assured that he does not want to appear as a person "who does not hope that Ukrainians have a chance to survive." "But I am standing on the ground of reality. And the reality is that cooperation between Ukraine and the West has failed," the Hungarian Prime Minister believes.
Orban believes that the only way to save Ukrainians is to start negotiations with the Russians, agree on a security architecture "and find a place for Ukraine in this new security architecture."
At the end of the interview, Orban noted that only Ukrainians should make decisions about the war, since "this is exclusively a matter for the Ukrainian people." "That's why I would advise them to do exactly what is best for them. But what is best for them, they have to decide for themselves. No one else can decide that. Because they are an independent, proud nation and country," Orbán said.
He also added that he personally does not consider Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal and considers it inappropriate to discuss his punishment for crimes in Ukraine now.
As you know, the International Criminal Court seeks the arrest of the President of the Russian Federation due to the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine. Orbán did not directly answer whether Putin would be arrested in Hungary if he came to its territory.
"I have no information that he (the President of Russia. - Ed.) wants to come to Hungary. Therefore, this hypothesis has no real basis. It is only a hypothesis," the Hungarian Prime Minister noted.
To a clarifying question, whether he considers Putin a war criminal, Orban answered in the negative: "No, for me no (Putin is not a war criminal. - Ed.)."
Orban also said that he considers the mutiny of the private military company "Wagner" in Russia to be an unimportant event.
