Putin passes the buck to Ukraine on the war

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán held a joint press conference following a meeting at the Kremlin that lasted approximately 2.5 hours.

Emphasizing that they held important discussions with Orbán on international and regional issues, including the situation in Ukraine, Putin said, "Orbán spoke about the meetings he recently held in Kyiv and presented a series of proposals. He also called for a ceasefire to begin negotiations with Russia."

Stressing that Russia has always supported resolving the conflict through diplomatic means, Putin said, "However, we constantly hear from the other side that they do not want to resolve the conflict in this way.

The sponsors of the conflict are trying to use the Ukrainian people as a sacrifice in the war against Russia. From what we heard from Prime Minister Orbán, Kyiv is still not ready to end the war," he said.

HE PRESENTED CONDITIONS TO UKRAINE

Emphasizing that the Kyiv administration does not want to end the state of war in the country because it would mean holding elections, Putin claimed that the current leaders of Ukraine have a near-zero chance of winning in potential elections.

Stressing that Russia has announced its conditions for ending the war, Putin said, "There should not be a ceasefire or some kind of pause that the Kyiv regime would use to compensate for its losses, regroup, and rearm.

Russia is in favor of a full and final end to the conflict," he said. Putin stated that for peace, Ukraine must, among other conditions, withdraw all its forces from the Donbas, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions in particular.

ORBÁN PROMISED TO FIGHT FOR PEACE

Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán, in his speech, said that the most important task for Hungary within the framework of the EU Presidency is to fight for peace.

Emphasizing that what Europe needs is peace and that the shortest path to peace must be found, the Hungarian leader said, "I wanted to hear the Russian President's thoughts on three important issues. These are his thoughts on peace initiatives, what he thinks about a ceasefire and peace negotiations and in what order they should take place, and also how he sees post-war Europe."

Stressing that the positions of Moscow and Kyiv regarding the conflict are far apart, Orbán said that significant effort is needed to end the war.