Kyiv, which considers the Hungarian president’s constant overtures towards Moscow and his refusal to support Ukraine as hostile, is waging its own “peace through victory” campaign and may not be interested in hearing Russia’s demands soon.
Despite harsh criticism of his previous mediation effortsHungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán appears undeterred and is once again working to bring countries around the world together to promote his plan to restore peace in Ukraine.
On the sidelines of last week’s United Nations General Assembly, the Hungarian leader quietly circled the room, asking China and Brazil to join him in organizing a peace summit that would bring Moscow and Kyiv at the negotiating table.
The leaders of France and Switzerland could also participate in this meeting, reported the Swiss media Weltwoche, which spoke with Mr. Orbán in New York.
“The agony must end,” Mr. Orbán said, explaining that his intensive negotiations with Beijing and Brasília were part of a new effort for what he sees as peace with Russia, after the failure of his attempts to convince Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he did not have much time left.
However, the last time the Hungarian Prime Minister attempted to do something similar, things did not go down well with many.
Do not divide the world to bring peace
Just after his country took over the EU presidency in June, Mr. Orbán went on a global peace tour to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing, irritating his European counterparts with his self-proclaimed role as a roving European ambassador, a negotiator of the free trade agreement.
If Brussels insisted that Orbán’s “peace mission 3.0” could only be carried out in the name of Budapest, European leaders did not relish the prospect of finding themselves in the same room as Russia’s Vladimir Putin to discuss Ukraine on its terms, with the EU fiercely opposing Moscow’s unprovoked all-out invasion in early 2022.
Kyiv has rejected any possibility of discussing peace with the Kremlin that does not include the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from all Ukrainian territories, including the unilaterally annexed Crimea that Moscow appropriated in the first invasion in 2014.
But if Brussels doesn’t back it, others might – although that may require further manipulation.
Brazil may need convincing of Orbán’s good intentions after Hungary provoked President Lula da Silva by offering Jair Bolsonaro refuge in its embassy in Brasília following his failed bid for office. re-election and the storming of the country’s institutions by Bolsonaro’s supporters in March.
But above all, Kyiv, which considers Orbán’s constant overtures towards Moscow and his refusal to support Ukraine as hostile, is itself promoting peace through victory and might not want to hear Putin’s demands anytime soon.
Last Wednesday, Mr. Zelensky told the United Nations General Assembly that there was no alternative to the peace formula he presented two years ago, while continuing to speak of his victory plan which would force Moscow to end the war on Ukraine’s terms.
“All parallel or alternative attempts to seek peace are in fact efforts to achieve a lull instead of ending the war,” Zelensky said, urging nations to “put pressure” on Russia.
“Don’t divide the world. Be united nations,” he implored. “This will bring us peace.”
Additional sources • adaptation: Serge Duchêne
