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Meeting of US, Russia presidents needed to resolve conflict in Ukraine — Orban

The Hungarian prime minister hopes that an agreement between Russia and the United States will be reached before the 50 days allotted by Trump expire and his threat to impose 100% import duties on Russia and its trading partners takes effect
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban Vladislav Nogai/TASS
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban
© Vladislav Nogai/TASS

BUDAPEST, July 17. /TASS/. The conflict in Ukraine can be resolved only if there is an agreement between Russia and the United States and if Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump meet in person, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told Ultrahang YouTube channel in an interview.

Orban said that the conflict will not stop "until the Russian and American presidents sit down at the negotiating table and an agreement is reached between Russia and the United States." These agreements, Orban believes, should be a "large-scale package" that will cover not only Ukraine, but also "issues such as energy prices, access to the Russian markets, economic sanctions, arms control."

The prime minister hopes that an agreement between Russia and the United States will be reached before the 50 days allotted by Trump expire and his threat to impose 100% import duties on Russia and its trading partners takes effect. "In this case, Hungary will have problems," Orban admitted.

He noted that prospects for a Ukrainian settlement now look complicated and strange. "It cannot be that everyone wants peace, but there was no peace. There are those who say they want peace, but in fact they want war," the head of government believes.

"Now we are in a situation where the Europeans and Ukrainians obviously want the war to continue, no matter what they say. I think the president of the United States really wants peace, and as for the Russians, we know the least about what they want, but we can be sure that they are trying to reach the designated territorial borders," Orban said.

He also confirmed that he sees his task in preventing Hungary from being drawn into the conflict and contributing to its peaceful settlement. The prime minister said he always tried to "present arguments in favor of peace" at meetings and in conversations with the presidents of Russia and the United States whenever he had the opportunity.