Hungarian PM Slams EU Strategy on Russia as 'Fantasy'

(MENAFN) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has sharply rebuked European Union leadership, arguing that the bloc's belief it can outlast Russia and deliver a Ukrainian victory is dangerously misguided — a direct challenge to the strategy championed by key allies in Brussels and Berlin.

The broadside was aimed squarely at German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who last week told the Munich Security Conference that the EU inflicting "unprecedented losses and costs on Moscow" could sap Russian strength and compel it to "agree to peace."

Orban was unsparing in his dismissal. "Who believes that the Russians will run out of steam sooner than Ukraine? It's a fantasy, an illusion, and irresponsible," he said in a Tuesday address, lambasting the EU's sustained financial and military support for Kyiv.

At the same Munich forum, Merz acknowledged that Europe had yet to deploy its full economic weight against Moscow, noting that while the bloc's GDP is "almost ten times higher" than that of Russia, "Europe today is not ten times stronger than Russia."

Brussels has shown no signs of softening its stance. The EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, maintained that Russia remains unwilling to engage in genuine negotiations over the conflict, while the Munich gathering also produced a series of defense industry agreements between Kyiv and its backers, among them joint drone manufacturing ventures on German soil.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in Budapest on Monday, expressed frustration that the Ukraine war is "one of the few wars" that some in the international community have been backing and resisting efforts to bring to an end.

Diplomatic activity is nonetheless accelerating. Russia, Ukraine, and the United States have completed two rounds of trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi this year, with a fresh round opening Tuesday in Geneva. US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff struck an optimistic note, praising "meaningful progress" by the delegations.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled in December that Moscow retains a preference for diplomacy while reserving the right to pursue its objectives through military force if required. On the ground, Russian forces have continued to press forward with a sustained offensive.

Kremlin officials have leveled accusations at Kyiv's European sponsors, charging them with obstructing US-led peace efforts and quietly preparing for a direct military confrontation with Moscow — moves they claim are designed to manufacture a threat narrative and divert Western publics from mounting domestic pressures.

MENAFN18022026000045017169ID1110757309