Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban gave a twenty-minute-long video interview to the Swiss news outlet Die Weltwoche in which he shared detailed insight into his mediation efforts. It’s in English and can be watched here, but the present piece will summarize what he said for the reader’s convenience. After some small talk with his interlocutor, Orban clarified to his critics that he’s a friend of the Hungarians first and also of peace, not some Russian puppet like they misportray him as being.
He said that he’s looking for the shortest and quickest way to stop the conflict and bring about peace. He then mentioned that he began the preparations for his visit to Moscow immediately after his talks with Zelensky and kept them secret, but they were leaked after his plane requested transit through Polish airspace. On the topic of secrecy, he hinted that he has some equally surprising meetings scheduled for next week, but he didn’t suggest with who or where they’ll be.
In Orban’s view, Christians should promote peace, but it must be approached politically, not bureaucratically, otherwise nothing will ever be achieved. He revealed that he spiritually prepared ahead of time so he isn’t bothered by all the criticism he’s received from the West since he’s convinced that talks are the first step on the road to peace. On that topic, he noted that he’s the only Western leader who can have a chat with Kiev and Moscow.
All of his counterparts created a situation where they now have no chance to communicate with the two main actors in this conflict. Orban believes that it’s emotionally unacceptable, dreadful, and bad to perpetuate the fighting since many children are being orphaned as a result of the high casualty rate. He’s therefore willing to pay any political price in Brussels for using his country’s new special position as the rotating president of the Council of the EU to obtain the role of a mediator between Ukraine and Russia.
As for his talks with Putin, Orban also noted that he’s the first Western leader to meet with him since Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer visited Moscow in April 2022. He then said that he asked him three questions, the first of which is what he thinks about the peace plans that are already on the table in order to clarify his understanding. He said that the Russian leader considers all plans such as the joint Sino-Brazilian one and is ready to resume negotiations based on the draft peace treaty from spring 2022.
Putin also said that he considers all other plans, except for Zelensky’s ultimatums of course, but real negotiations can’t begin without Russia’s involvement. The second question that Orban asked Putin was whether he’d consider a ceasefire before the resumption of peace talks, to which he replied that he’s not optimistic about that because Ukraine will use it against Russia. Nevertheless, Orban insisted that he still think about it and not dismiss it out of hand.
And finally, the third question was about Putin’s vision for the European security architecture after the conflict ends, to which he said that he has a detailed plan in mind but that it’s too early to publicly speak about it. Even so, Putin also told Orban that he’s ready to talk to others about this if they’re interested. The Hungarian leader was then asked whether he thought that Putin feels bitter, deceived, let down, and/or in full combat mode to confront the West, but Orban said that he’s never seen Putin upset.
That’s because they agreed during their first meeting in 2009 that mutual respect will be the basis of their ties so he’s never offended him, which is why he doesn’t know what he’s like when he’s angry. Their talks are always conducted in a good mood, and Orban praised Putin as a 100% rational person who’s very disciplined. It’s thus a challenge to negotiate with him since one must be prepared to keep up with his intellectual and political level. As could be expected, Orban said that Putin talked more than he did.
He then said that everyone, including the two primary participants, knows that the Ukrainian Conflict must end sooner or later and that peace is always a good thing. The goal of his shuttle diplomacy was to create hope that this isn’t impossible and to show that their leaders can find a way through him if they want. Peace must be based on mutual understanding and mutual intentions, and he hoped that his hosts would be encouraged to move in this direction by his meetings with them.
As a Western leader, Orban said that some might perceive him as Russia’s enemy, but that’s precisely why his visit to Moscow created such hope for peace since he was the first such one of his peers to meet with Putin and talk to him in a different way by holding a mutually respectful dialogue. He compared himself to former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who visited Moscow to meet with former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during the brief Russian-Georgian War in August 2008.
That was an example of the political leadership that Orban wanted to emulate through his shuttle diplomacy. He then elaborated that nothing will happen if peace is considered from a purely bureaucratic perspective and that it must be worked for since it won’t happen on its own. Talks are the first step towards this end since they reopen the diplomatic relationship and communication channels. Orban then ended the interview by once again hinting at his surprise meeting on Monday.
Altogether, it’s clear that he’s sincere in his mediation efforts, though Zelensky remains recalcitrant and his Foreign Ministry expressed outrage that Orban conducted talks with Putin on the conflict without their country’s participation. Zelensky’s senior aide Mikhail Podolyak also just said that any potential mediators shouldn’t demand an immediate ceasefire. Be that as it may, the military-strategic dynamics of the conflict might eventually lead to Zelensky making use of Orban’s mediation services.
