Orban accused the United States of Ukraine’s refusal of a peace agreement with Russia

Ukraine was ready to conclude a peace agreement with Russia in Istanbul, but did not sign it on orders from the United States. This was stated by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on the Kossuth radio station, commenting on the words of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

“We know from all kinds of reports and intelligence sources that in Istanbul, in fact, an agreement was concluded between the Russians and the Ukrainians, which the Ukrainians did not sign on orders from the Americans,” said the Hungarian politician (quote according to TASS).

Orbán added that this was “a well-known fact in the world of diplomacy.” One day, he said, “historians will know about this.” He recalled the Minsk agreements of 2015. Orban explained that in this way the EU wanted to “isolate” the conflict in eastern Ukraine and help resolve it.

“But the Americans entered this game, and since then the direction has been taken not to contain, not to localize, but to expand and escalate the conflict, which is becoming increasingly global,” said the Hungarian Prime Minister.

At the end of October, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung statedthat Ukraine did not make peace with Russia because of the United States. According to him, Kyiv initially discussed issues related to this process with Washington. He added that at that time the Ukrainian authorities were ready to talk about Crimea and renounce NATO membership. “My impression: nothing could happen because everything else was decided in Washington. It was fatal,” Schroeder said.

In February and March 2022, Russia and Ukraine held negotiations several times. Three meetings took place in Belarus, the fourth in Istanbul. After this, Kyiv pulled out of the negotiations and the process was frozen. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier saidthat Western countries prohibited Ukraine from continuing negotiations. According to him, they are interested in continuing the conflict and expect that this will weaken Russia.

Moscow has repeatedly emphasized that it remains ready for negotiations with Ukraine. But this process is hampered by a decree signed by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in October 2022 on the refusal to negotiate with Russia while Vladimir Putin is its president, the Kremlin explained.