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Ukrainians must decide for themselves whether to continue fighting in the war with Russia. As the correspondent reports, Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary, which presides over the European Council, said this at the press conference following the informal meeting of the heads of state and government of the EU member states.
In particular, Orban was asked what Ukraine should do at the moment.
"It is not my job to answer this question. Ukraine is a sovereign country. Hungary is a sovereign country. What Ukraine will do depends exclusively on Ukrainians. They chose to fight, and they still fight heroically. It is their decision to continue or not to continue," Orban emphasized.
At the same time, the Hungarian Prime Minister said that he was trying to separate Hungary from the danger of war and from involving the country in a situation that could have a bad effect on it. Orban recalled that he visited Kyiv and Moscow in July.
"What I did in Ukraine was not to convince Ukrainians to do something. I was just trying to explain to the president (Volodymyr Zelensky - ) - please, my friend, time is not on your side, and I am ready to help you in some way to create a ceasefire and later an acceptable peace," Orban said.
At the same time, the Hungarian Prime Minister added that these efforts were rejected because, according to him, Zelenskyi replied that time is on Ukraine's side.
"Aware that neither side in the war is ready to go to a cease-fire regime, and both sides are convinced that time is on their side, I continue my efforts to create a kind of international climate as wide as possible, a favorable climate for peace in conditions of war, in order to influence both sides of the war that sooner or later they will have to establish a ceasefire and go to negotiations, to restore communication," Orban stressed.
He repeated that he never said what Ukrainians should do:
"This is their country. This is their future, their life - they are a sovereign country."
According to Orban, Ukraine deserves a better future because it fought heroically. At the same time, he does not agree with the statement that Hungary is an isolated country in the EU, as it has a different position towards Ukraine than all other member states.
"If you have an opinion, and you and 26 other countries have a different opinion - this is not isolation. This is a discussion," Orban said.
These words of the Prime Minister of Hungary caused laughter among the journalists present in the hall. At the same time, Orbán emphasized that this is a democracy.
Orban's previous statements
The day before, the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, said that Europe will not finance the "lost" war in Ukraine. According to him, if the USA stops supporting Kyiv in the future, then Europe will not be able to finance the defense of Ukraine on its own.
In addition, according to Orban, Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential elections changed the attitude of European leaders towards the war in Ukraine.
