Orban calls for a new EU approach to Ukraine and claims sanctions have failed.

• According to Viktor Orban, prime minister of Hungary, sanctions against Moscow have failed and the European Union needs a fresh approach to the conflict in Ukraine.
• Orban stated in a speech in Romania that “a new approach is needed, one that should focus on peace negotiations and creating a strong peace proposal…instead of winning the war.
• “After being reelected in April for a fourth time in a row, Orban reaffirmed that Hungary, a NATO member, will not participate in the conflict in neighbouring Ukraine.

Orban, prime minister of Hungary, sanctions against Moscow have failed and the European Union needs a fresh approach to the conflict in Ukraine.

Orban stated in a speech in Romania that “a new approach is needed, one that should focus on peace negotiations and creating a strong peace proposal…instead of winning the war.”

After being reelected in April for a fourth time in a row, Orban reaffirmed that Hungary, a NATO member, will not participate in the conflict in neighbouring Ukraine.

With double-digit inflation, a depreciating forint, and EU funds still being held up in the midst of a dispute with Brussels over democratic standards, he is facing his toughest challenge since taking office in 2010.

Hungary, whose economy is dependent on imports of Russian gas to the tune of roughly 85%, has already stated that it is hesitant to support EU embargoes or restrictions on those supplies.

In his speech, he claimed that the four pillars of the Western strategy on Ukraine were that Ukraine could defeat Russia with NATO weapons, sanctions would weaken and destabilise Russia’s government, sanctions would hurt Russia more than Europe, and the rest of the world would unite in support of Europe.

Governments in Europe are falling “like dominoes,” according to Orban, who claimed that this strategy had failed and that a new one was urgently needed.

It is quite evident that the fight cannot be won in this fashion, Orban told his followers, “We are sitting in a car with a puncture in all four tyres.”

He claimed that Ukraine will never be able to defeat Russia on this front “quite simply because of assymetrical supremacy” Russia and Ukraine could not hold peace negotiations, according to Orban.

The only way this war could be resolved, he continued, was through negotiations between Russia and America for security guarantees.