Ukraine cannot win the war with Russia on the battlefield, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Tuesday, adding that dialogue and a ceasefire were necessary to save lives , the BBC quoted him as saying.
Earlier, Hungary's finance minister said Budapest would delay a decision on extending EU sanctions against Russia, and it affects the final agreement on a $50 billion G7 loan for Ukraine.
Speaking at a briefing in Strasbourg, Orbán said that US presidential candidate Donald Trump, if elected, would not wait for the inauguration, but would start working for peace in Ukraine immediately after the November 5 election, reports Reuters .
Orbán, a longtime Trump supporter, also said both direct and indirect communications between warring countries are needed and third-party mediation should be part of international politics.
"We don't want to block anything, we just want to convince European leaders to change their strategy (on Ukraine), because the current strategy is not working," Orban said.
In July, a few days after Hungary took over the EU presidency, Orbán embarked on a "peace mission" (as he called it), which was not coordinated with the European institutions and which included a visit to Moscow, Kiev and Beijing, as well as a meeting with Trump. His visits caused a negative reaction from European leaders.