BUDAPEST, June 9. /TASS/. Western countries want to inflict a military defeat on Russia in order to gain access to its national wealth, as they attempted to do back in 1990s, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in an interview to HirTV.

"Western leaders, who are on the war path, want to defeat Russia militarily. Their plan is simple, because it is all about the money, which gives them clout and power," he said, when asked why the West was determined have a military victory over Russia in Ukraine.

Orban recalled the period of the 1990s, when "Europeans were welcomed in Russia and managed to infiltrate the Russian economy, meeting no resistance." In his opinion, the West tried to exploit Russia during that period, but "the Russians eventually took all matters into their own hands and transformed everything the way they saw fit."

Many Western stakeholders are nostalgic about these times, dreaming about "anther great perestroika in the East," and hope that the conflict in Ukraine will offer them opportunities in this regard, Orban explained.

He said that various "arms sellers, creditors, and stock exchange gamblers" are already trying to make profit on the conflict.