Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, along with the Greek, Croatian and Slovenian prime ministers, the Austrian chancellor and the heads of state of Bulgaria and Cyprus, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the European Union summit in Brussels on Thursday.
According to the Prime Minister’s press chief, PM Orbán earlier said in a Twitter post that Hungary continued to provide humanitarian and financial support to Ukraine. “We support an immediate ceasefire to prevent the further loss of human lives. Hungary belongs to the peace camp!” PM Orbán added in his tweet. After the meeting, PM Orbán said on Facebook: “From what the Ukrainian president said, it’s clear this war will drag on. We can’t count on it ending soon,” PM Orban said, adding that Hungary would continue to aid Ukrainians by humanitarian means but “we won’t deliver weapons”.
In a video uploaded to Facebook on Thursday, PM Orbán said lives can only be saved through a ceasefire and by securing peace. “We Hungarians are still on the side of peace,” he declared. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, addressed the extraordinary European Union summit in Brussels, PM Orbán noted. The prime minister said that Hungary mounted its largest-ever humanitarian operation when it delivered aid for Ukraine and took in refugees from the country in the past year. “We let more than one million refugees cross our borders from Ukraine,” he added. “From what the Ukrainian president said, it’s clear this war will drag on. We can’t count on it ending soon,” PM Orbán said, adding that Hungary would continue to aid Ukrainians by humanitarian means but “we won’t deliver weapons”. He said a settlement resulting in lasting peace was in the Hungarian interest.