By Rafiyat Sadiq
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has declared that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has lost the war against Russia, ahead of a planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In an interview published Wednesday by Hungarian news outlet mandiner.hu, Orbán said, “The Ukrainians have lost this war; Russia has won the war.”
He criticised what he called the false perception that the conflict had an “open end”.
Orbán, who has often blocked European Union sanctions against Russia, argued that Kyiv’s resistance is sustained only by Western military and financial support. Without it, he claimed, the war would have ended long ago.
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On Tuesday, Hungary refused to sign a joint statement with its 26 EU partners supporting Trump’s mediation efforts. The statement stressed Ukraine’s territorial integrity and insisted that borders should not be altered by force.
Explaining his stance, Orbán said the declaration tried to set conditions for negotiations without EU leaders being part of the talks.
He warned that the upcoming Trump-Putin meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday could result in a deal forcing Ukraine to make territorial concessions, a move Zelensky has firmly rejected.
In a Facebook post, Orbán lamented that the EU had been sidelined in the process, saying, “The only thing worse will be if we were giving instructions from the sidelines.”
Rafiyat Sadiq is a political, justice, and human rights reporter with Pinnacle Daily, known for fearless reporting and impactful storytelling. At Pinnacle Daily, she brings clarity and depth to issues shaping governance, democracy, and the protection of citizens’ rights.
