BUDAPEST, February 20. /TASS/. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he fears that continued attempts by European Union leaders to obstruct US efforts toward a Ukrainian settlement could prompt US President Donald Trump to abandon the negotiating process.

"I am only afraid that the Americans may suddenly pack up and leave the Russian-Ukrainian peace talks. The current situation cannot be masked by any elaborate linguistic tricks. While President Trump is persistently seeking a settlement, Europeans stand in his way at every step," Orban told Hungarian journalists following the first session of the Board of Peace chaired by Trump.

"The Americans are constantly putting forward peace initiatives, maintaining direct communication with the Russians, and holding negotiations, while European leaders have decided to continue the war and believe Russia must be defeated on Ukraine’s territory," the prime minister said at the press conference, broadcast by the M1 TV channel. He added that cooperation between the United States and Europe is becoming increasingly difficult.

Orban said that during his meetings with Trump, he urged the US leader to continue efforts to resolve the Ukrainian conflict which would otherwise go on for a long time. "I don’t know how this war can be stopped without the Americans," he emphasized.