Hungary’s pro-Putin Prime Minister Viktor Orban claims Western sanctions on Russia have failed

Hungary’s pro-Putin Prime Minister has said the war in Ukraine will only end when peace talks are held between Russia and America.

Viktor Orban said sanctions against Moscow have not worked and that the European Union needs a new strategy to end the conflict.

‘A new strategy is needed which should focus peace talks and drafting a good peace proposal…instead of winning the war,’ Orban said in a speech in Romania.

Though Hungary is a member of NATO, Orban has maintained a strong relationship with Vladimir Putin throughout the war in Ukraine and has continually advocated for a softer Western stance on Russia. 

Orban also reiterated that Hungary would stay out of the war in neighbouring Ukraine.

So far Hungary has not supported EU embargoes or limitations on Russian gas imports as that would undermine its economy, which is about 85% reliant on Russian gas imports.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that the EU needs to find a new solution to end the war in Ukraine as sanctions have not worked

Orban suggested the only way Putin will stop his invasion of Ukraine is if peace talks take place between Russia and the US

He said in his speech that the Western strategy on Ukraine has been built on four pillars – that Ukraine can win a war against Russia with NATO weapons, that sanctions would weaken Russia and destabilise its leadership, that sanctions would hurt Russia more than Europe, and that the world would line up in support of Europe.

Orban said this strategy has failed as governments in Europe are collapsing ‘like dominoes’, energy prices have surged and a new strategy was needed now.

‘We are sitting in a car that has a puncture in all four tyres: it is absolutely clear that the war cannot be won in this way,’ Orban told his supporters.

He said Ukraine will never win the war this way ‘quite simply because the Russian army has asymmetrical dominance’.

So far all peace talks between Ukraine and Russia have failed, but a deal to allow grain to be exported has be signed

Orban said there was no chance for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

‘As Russia wants security guarantees, this war can be ended only with peace talks between Russia and America,’ he said.

Progress appeared to have been made with Ukraine and Russia signing a grain export deal with Turkey and UN in the first breakthrough since the conflict began.

The deal was to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports, Turkey and the United Nations said, raising hopes that an international food crisis aggravated by the Russian invasion can be eased.

However Russian rockets struck a grain facility in the Ukrainian port city Odesa in an ‘outrageous’ attack just hours after the landmark food supply deal.

A Ukrainian military spokesman said Kalibr cruise missiles targeted a grain processing plant this morning – but claimed they ‘did not cause significant damage’.

Exports will continue as planned, they added.

President Zelensky wrote via Telegram: ‘This proves only one thing: no matter what Russia says and promises, it will find ways not to implement it.’

Russia promised Turkey it had ‘nothing to do’ with the airstrike, the country’s defence minister said.