Hungarian PM Orbán explains refusal to back EU statement on Ukraine

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has outlined why Hungary did not join the European Union’s joint statement on Ukraine, released on Tuesday - days before a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

The EU statement, supported by all member states except Hungary, called for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine based on respect for international law, including the principles of independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the inviolability of borders.

Orbán, who has maintained good relations with both Putin and Trump despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, frequently criticises Kyiv. On Tuesday, he posted on his official X account that before “the liberal mainstream” labels him “Putin’s puppet” once again, he wanted to explain why Hungary could not endorse the EU statement.

He argued that the statement attempted to set conditions for a meeting that the EU leaders themselves were not invited to attend. Orbán said it was regrettable that the EU was sidelined and warned that further deterioration could come from “instructions given from the bench.” He considered the EU leaders’ only reasonable action to be initiating an EU-Russia summit, modelled on the upcoming US-Russia talks.

The Trump-Putin summit is scheduled for 15 August in Alaska.

According to media reports, Putin demands that Ukraine cede parts of the territory currently occupied by Russian forces in exchange for peace. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected such proposals, stating that Ukrainians will never surrender their land to the occupiers.