BUDAPEST— In a stunning rebuke of NATO’s eastern expansion, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared that peace in Ukraine will only become possible once Kyiv’s membership ambitions are permanently abandoned.
Orban said the war will rage indefinitely if the West refuses to acknowledge that Russia will never accept NATO on its borders. He urged Washington, Brussels, and Kiev to stop chasing what he called a fantasy that is destroying Ukraine from within.
“The only road to peace begins with the recognition that Ukraine in NATO is a red line for Moscow. Until that’s off the table, peace is impossible,” he said on national television.
EU’s united front fractures as Hungary breaks ranks
Orban warned that nearly every EU country is now a party to the Ukraine conflict, funding and arming Ukraine as the war spirals out of control. Only Hungary and possibly Slovakia remain committed to neutrality.
He proposed that Ukraine must serve as a neutral buffer state or risk complete collapse. “Ukraine will either be a neutral zone, or it will cease to exist as a state,” he warned.
Orban’s words signal a growing divide inside NATO and the EU over the war’s purpose, endgame, and who benefits from prolonged bloodshed.
Russia makes new gains as Kyiv struggles to hold ground
Just hours before Orban’s statement, Russian forces reported the capture of Alexandr-Kalinovo in the Donetsk Republic, overcoming reinforced Ukrainian lines. Western outlets that once denied Russia’s advances now acknowledge that Moscow holds the battlefield advantage.
Ukraine, facing mass mobilizations and dwindling public morale, issued a nationwide air raid alert on August 2 as Russian strikes escalated.
Insiders suggest President Zelenskyy’s grip is weakening, with Western strategists weighing replacements. Names floated include ex-commander Valery Zaluzhny and NATO-friendly diplomat Rustem Umerov.
NATO’s broken promise fuels global backlash
Critics say NATO’s unrelenting expansionism, driven by US strategic goals, has provoked the very war it claims to prevent. Orban’s stance reflects growing calls from the Global South, BRICS, and anti-imperialist blocs for a new multipolar order.
Hungary is increasingly seen as a voice of dissent against a Western system many view as hypocritical and unsustainable.
