Hungarian PM says sanctions against Russia have failed, European governments are collapsing ‘like dominoes’

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says European governments are "collapsing like dominos" in the face of Russia, urging the European Union (EU) to stop taking sides in the war in Ukraine.

In a speech in Romania on Saturday, Orban urged the West to stop arming Ukraine and work for a peace settlement instead.

"A new strategy is needed which should focus peace talks and drafting a good peace proposal...instead of winning the war," said the prime minister.

Orban acknowledged that the West’s strategy in Ukraine, including economic sanctions on Russia and the provision of military aid, has failed. 

He said sanctions by the EU, the United States, Canada and their allies haven’t weakened Moscow but instead have caused instability in Europe.

“It’s not the EU’s job to take sides in this conflict, but to go between the two sides” to help negotiations, he said.

He noted that Ukraine can’t win the war with Russia, even with Western support.

He said in his speech that the Western strategy on Ukraine has been built on four pillars -- that Ukraine can win a war against Russia with NATO weapons, that sanctions would weaken Russia and destabilize its leadership, that sanctions would hurt Russia more than Europe, and that the world would line up in support of Europe.

Orban said this strategy has failed as governments in Europe are collapsing "like dominoes", energy prices have surged and a new strategy was needed now.

"We are sitting in a car that has a puncture in all four tyres: it is absolutely clear that the war cannot be won in this way," Orban said.

In late February, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ordered a military campaign "to demilitarize" and "de-Nazify" Ukraine and to “liberate” Donbas, composed of two breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Since the onset of the operation, the United States and its European allies have supplied billions of dollars worth of weaponry to Ukraine and imposed waves of unprecedented sanctions -- including gas embargos -- on Moscow, despite Russia’s repeated warning that such a Western flood of weapons will only prolong the war.

Orban said formerly that Hungary was unwilling to support EU embargoes or limitations on Russian gas imports as that would undermine its economy, which is about 85% reliant on Russian gas imports.

Orban said the threat of economic recession loomed over entire Europe now which also posed a risk to his country's economy.

Hungary PM slams EU’s bans on Russia as ‘shot in the lungs’

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has blasted the European Union for imposing ill-considered sanctions on Russia, saying the bloc "shot itself in the lungs" by doing so.

The Hungarian prime minister made it clear that there was no chance for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

“As Russia wants security guarantees, this war can be ended only with peace talks between Russia and America,” he added.

Prior to the war, Moscow had officially demanded a guarantee from Washington and NATO, which included a promise that the US-led military alliance would give up any military activity in Eastern Europe and Ukraine and that Ukraine will never join NATO.

Orban's stance of opposing stronger sanctions against and even fostering closer ties with Russia, as well as banning direct weapons transfers to Ukraine through Hungary, puts him at odds with most other EU and NATO members. 

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