The debate at the Munich Security Conference is about the future of Hungary, Ukraine and Europe, “it is not about me and it is not about you,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday on X, responding to several statements the Ukrainian president made in Munich.
According to the report of the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN, at a panel discussion at the conference on Saturday, Mr Zelenskyy said, thanks to the Ukrainians, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán does not have to think about how to increase his country’s army. According to the president, the Ukrainians are holding the European front.
“We have behind our people the independent Poland and the free Baltic countries, Moldova and Romania which are growing fast, without dictatorship. Even one “Viktor” can think about how to grow his belly, not how to grow his army to stop Russian tanks from returning to the streets of Budapest,” Mr Zelenskyy stated. He stressed that none of the Ukrainians had chosen to become “such heroes.”
“Ukraine didn’t choose this war, and it’s wrong to think that this agreement is forever, based on which others can stay safe behind Ukraine. The Ukrainians are people, not terminators,” the head of state added.
“Dear Volodimir, Thank you for yet another campaign speech in support of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union. It will greatly help Hungarians see the situation more clearly. There is, however, something you misunderstand: this debate is not about me and it is not about you. It is about the future of Hungary, Ukraine, and Europe. This is precisely why you cannot become a member of the European Union,” Mr Orbán wrote to the Ukrainian president.
At the conference, Mr Zelenskyy also responded to US President Donald Trump who urged Kiev to immediately conclude a peace deal with Russia. He confirmed that he felt a certain amount of pressure from the White House to accelerate the signing of the agreement. “Perhaps, this is just to prepare the ground before the trilateral meeting in Switzerland,” the president observed according to UNIAN’s report.
He stressed that Ukraine was able to move on, preserving its dignity. “We have made many compromises during our talks with the Russians. We have trilateral meetings, for which the United States has my utmost respect. They suggested that we hold meetings in such a format. I believe that this is a compromise on the part of the Ukrainian people,” Mr Zelenskyy argued.
He highlighted that the Ukrainian party was ready to continue the dialogue. “We are ready to talk about stopping acts of war. This is also a compromise because we’re talking about our own territories which are under occupation, about our own people who have been killed. So, we have made many different kinds of compromises,” he added.
Ukraine also made a compromise when it agreed to discussing the US proposal to turn the Donets Basin into a free trade zone, he said.
He stressed that Ukraine always responded when asked whether it was prepared to take any step. “The question is what the Russians are prepared to do, but we’re not hearing any compromise offers from the Russians,” Mr Zelenskyy said.
In his view, in the past four years, since the war has been under way, Russia only started taking diplomacy seriously whenever the Ukrainians carried out successful long-range strikes on Russian oil refineries and when “everyone started talking about the fact that Ukraine should be given Tomahawk missiles.”
“This shows precisely how to treat Russia. In actual fact, Russia only pays attention to others when they sense strength. The stronger we are, the more realistic peace becomes,” Mr Zelenskyy pointed out.
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