Expert suggests why Orbán called Putin
Photo: Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary, and Vladimir Putin, President of Russia (Getty Images)
It is possible that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán initiated phone talks with the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, at the request of the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump, states political expert Taras Zahorodnii in a comment to the RBC-Ukraine YouTube channel.
As Zahorodnii explained, the call took place to check whether the "client was ready for a dissection," but judging by Orbán's own reaction, the negotiations were unsuccessful, as Putin cannot back down from the personal demands he made regarding the end of the full-scale war.
"We are returning to the trap that Russia itself fell into. Putin has made demands to Ukraine and the West that cannot be fulfilled. He continues to insist on demilitarization, the rights of Russian speakers, that Ukraine must leave Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, and only after that he will start a ceasefire. This will never happen," the expert added.
According to Zahorodnii, another obstacle for Putin is that he refuses to recognize the Ukrainian government as legitimate.
"He wants international agreements. He wants an official signature from the Americans because he does not recognize the Ukrainian government as legitimate. They have trapped themselves," Zahorodnii explained.
Phone talks between Orbán and Putin
On December 11, Vladimir Putin and the head of the Hungarian government held phone talks. According to Russian media, the negotiations took place at Orbán's initiative. During the dialogue, the Kremlin leader and the prime minister discussed, among other things, the war in Ukraine. Putin complained to Orbán about Kyiv's "destructive line," which allegedly makes a peaceful settlement impossible.
Commenting on Orbán's call to Putin, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called it a move to boost his own image.
