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Ukraine may lose war, it needs talks — Hungary’s Orban

In a conversation with former Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Ukraine ought to give thought to negotiations rather than continue military operations

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban Grigory Sysoyev/POOL/TASS

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban

© Grigory Sysoyev/POOL/TASS

BUDAPEST, March 29. /TASS/. Ukraine may suffer a complete defeat in the conflict with Russia and lose even more than it has already lost, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned.

In a conversation with former Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel (in office from 2000 to 2007), published in the new pan-European magazine European Voices, Orban said Ukraine ought to give thought to negotiations rather than continue military operations.

According to Hungarian media, in the discussion, which took place at Orban's official residence - a former Carmelite monastery in Budapest - the two men disagreed on many issues, including the conflict in Ukraine.

"First of all, there must be a cease-fire because there is no longer a reasonable discussion between the Russians and the West," Orban said. Schuessel argued that an immediate ceasefire would be tantamount to Ukraine’s defeat, to which the Hungarian prime minister responded: "The Ukrainians may lose more than what they have already lost: they may lose the war."

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