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Hungarian Prime Minister says he does not see Putin as war criminal

"We need heads of delegations for talks. Who will hold them if not the leaders of the countries involved?" Viktor Orban said

BERLIN, June 27. /TASS/. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he does not consider Russian President Vladimir Putin to be a war criminal.

"No. Not for me," Orban said in an interview with the German newspaper Bild, commenting on the ICCt’s decision to issue an arrest warrant for the Russian leader. "We can talk about war crimes after the war. If we want a truce and talks, we have to convince those that are part of the conflict to sit down at the negotiating table, the prime minister said.

"It is a bad idea to ask them to sit at the negotiating table and say, 'Come to the table, and I will arrest you'," Orban noted. "It is absolutely inappropriate to talk about that [the alleged war crimes] right now," he said.

"We need heads of delegations for talks. Who will hold them if not the leaders of the countries involved?" he asked.

On March 17, the International Criminal Court (ICCt) issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova. Moscow does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICCt, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a comment on the decision.

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Ukraine crisis Vladimir Putin Hungary

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