Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb\u00e1n assessed Tuesday\u2019s European Council videoconference on the 18 August White House meeting of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, EU and NATO heads, and leaders of the Coalition of the Willing with US President Donald Trump by stating that every aspect of the European Union\u2019s strategy towards the war in Ukraine over the past three years has proven wrong.<\/p>\n
While maintaining a strictly diplomatic tone, Orb\u00e1n delivered a harsh implicit criticism of the von der Leyen Commission and the majority of EU member states over their approach to securing Europe\u2019s interests in the context of the conflict.<\/p>\n
EU\u2019s Ukraine Strategy in Ruins<\/strong><\/p>\n First, Orb\u00e1n wrote, during the Council meeting, \u2018it has been confirmed that the danger of a third world war can only be reduced through a Trump\u2013Putin meeting.\u2019 Hungary has consistently advocated US\u2013Russian talks to end the war\u2014which is a flashpoint that could escalate into a global conflict\u2014and has clearly recognised and expressed the proxy nature of the war. In his State of the Nation address in 2023, Orb\u00e1n declared that \u2018there will be peace when the Americans and Russians negotiate with each other.\u2019 <\/p>\n Meanwhile, the EU, through narrative-shaping and rhetoric, has made itself a party to the conflict, portraying Ukraine as the defender of European democracy<\/a>. \u2018You are fighting not only for your freedom, your democracy and your future, but for ours too. You are fighting for Europe!\u2019 von der Leyen famously stated before the Verkhovna Rada in Kyiv in November 2023.<\/p>\n Second, Orb\u00e1n continued, \u2018it has been confirmed that the isolation-based strategy has failed.\u2019 One of the biggest gains for Russian President Vladimir Putin from last Friday\u2019s Alaska summit<\/a> is that Moscow succeeded in breaking out of three years of Western diplomatic isolation. In doing so, the EU\u2019s \u2018no dialogue\u2019 policy\u2014one of the key pillars of Brussels\u2019 Ukraine strategy\u2014collapsed. <\/p>\n Hungary, by contrast, kept channels of communication open with Russia and advocated for joint EU dialogue with Moscow, led by Paris or Berlin, to make Europe relevant in future negotiations. For this stance, Orb\u00e1n was labelled \u2018Putin\u2019s puppet\u2019 and Hungary was threatened with the withdrawal of its voting rights in EU decision-making. In his post, Orb\u00e1n also emphasized that Hungary continues to keep on the agenda the initiative for the Union to propose a Europe\u2013Russia summit as soon as possible.<\/p>\n Third, Orb\u00e1n explained, \u2018it has been confirmed that there is no solution to the Russia\u2013Ukraine war on the frontline; only diplomatic efforts can bring a solution.\u2019 Hungary\u2019s position has been exactly that since the day Russia invaded Ukraine: stop the loss of countless innocent lives\u2014including civilians, elders, and children\u2014agree to a ceasefire, and then negotiate a compromise, because that is how the war will end regardless. Orb\u00e1n, for his part, made attempts: the Hungarian prime minister embarked on two peace missions<\/a> in 2024 and offered a Christmas ceasefire, which was harshly criticized by European leaders and immediately dismissed by Zelenskyy. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Brussels built on the narrative of an inevitable Russian defeat and an undeniable Ukrainian victory. \u2018There can be no doubt that Ukraine will win,\u2019 wrote <\/a>the EU\u2019s European External Action Service (EEAS) on its Facebook page in 2024, announcing the fifteenth sanctions package against Russia. Those sanctions were framed as the instrument to bring Russia to its knees and to ensure defeat on the battlefield. \u2018We must make sure that Putin will be defeated,\u2019 former European Council President Charles Michel told CNN in 2022.<\/p>\n Last but not least, Orb\u00e1n stated that the Council meeting also confirmed that \u2018Ukraine\u2019s membership in the European Union provides no security guarantees; therefore, linking membership with security guarantees is unnecessary and dangerous.\u2019 As Putin reportedly agreed to \u2018NATO-like\u2019 Western security guarantees, Brussels\u2019 narrative pushing Kyiv\u2019s fast-track accession has, at the very least, been severely weakened. Orb\u00e1n was the only EU leader to block the official opening of accession chapters in June 2025, arguing that admitting Ukraine would automatically integrate the conflict with Russia into the EU<\/a>, posing an extreme security threat to the continent.<\/p>\n \u2018Hungary welcomes the steps taken at the Trump\u2013Putin talks and supports the continuation of the negotiation process, with particular regard to a second Trump\u2013Putin meeting,\u2019 Orb\u00e1n concluded.<\/p>\n Budapest Summit Ahead?<\/strong><\/p>\n While the Alaska summit established a new reality in which virtually everything the EU pursued over the past three years proved wrong\u2014and much of what Hungary was criticized for has become reality\u2014Putin and Trump may now deliver Orb\u00e1n a political gift that could bolster his position both domestically ahead of next year\u2019s election and in Europe as well. On Tuesday afternoon, POLITICO Brussels confirmed other media reports<\/a> suggesting that Trump\u2019s team wants the (potential) Putin\u2013Zelenskyy summit to be hosted in the Hungarian capital. <\/p>\n \u2018The White House is planning for a possible trilateral meeting between the US, Russian and Ukrainian presidents in the Hungarian capital of Budapest as the next steps in negotiating an end to the years-long war, according to a Trump administration official and a person close to the administration,\u2019 the outlet reported. Asked about Budapest, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt neither confirmed nor denied the possibility. Geneva, Switzerland, also remains high on the list, with the Swiss Foreign Ministry already signalling openness to host such talks.<\/p>\n \u2018Alaska summit established a new reality in which virtually everything the EU pursued over the past three years proved wrong\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n