Brussels, Aug 12
As many as 26 leaders of the European Union issued a joint statement on Monday, highlighting their support for Ukraine ahead of the much-awaited meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15. Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban, however, decided to not support the statement, citing reservations about the idea.
The EU leaders welcomed Trump's efforts towards "ending Russia’s war of aggression" against Ukraine and achieving a just and lasting peace and security for Ukraine. They stated that a lasting peace is required with respect for international law, emphasising the territorial integrity of Ukraine
Meanwhile, Hungary said that it "does not associate itself" with the statement.
Orban stated further: "The statement attempts to set conditions for a meeting to which leaders of the EU were not invited. The fact that the EU was left on the sidelines is sad enough as it is. The only thing that could make things worse is if we started providing instructions from the bench. The only sensible action for EU leaders is to initiate an EU-Russia summit, based on the example of the US-Russia meeting. Let's give peace a chance!"
Szijjarto said Hungary sees the Trump-Putin summit as a potential step toward peace. He stated that he had discussed the upcoming meeting between Putin and Trump with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov over a phone-call.