It took more than twenty-eight months from the beginning of the conflict with Russia to convince Viktor Orbán to travel to Ukraine to have a face to face with Volodymyr Zelensky. A trip that in most of the Italian media is reported in triumphal tones, almost as if it were a way to abjure more than two years in which he seemed to play side with his friend Vladimir Putin, but which, in reality, is a mere and simple act of duty because, as of yesterday, Hungary assumed the six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Orbán flies to Kiev and asks to think about ceasefire with Russia. Zelensky’s anger: “The EU must continue to support us”
As announced in Budapest, the Hungarian prime minister, instead of renewing Brussels’ commitment to support Ukraine’s resistance, mostly reiterated that the time has come to end hostilities. In fact, as Orbán stated during the summit with Zelensky, “peace in Ukraine will be the main issue of the next six months of the Hungarian presidency of the European Union”. Then, if it were not already clear enough, he urged the Ukrainian president to consider “an immediate ceasefire” in order to “accelerate peace negotiations”.
Phrases that will have made Putin happy, while they have annoyed Zelensky quite a bit, who scolded him by claiming that “Ukraine, massacred by war, needs a just peace”. Immediately after, the leader of Kiev reminded Orbán that “it is very important for all of us in Europe that Europe’s support for Ukraine remains at a sufficient level, also with regard to our defense from Russian terror”. In short, a back-and-forth that says a lot about the Hungarian prime minister’s intentions regarding support for Kiev’s resistance against Moscow’s invasion.
After Orbán, NATO Shields Support for Ukraine Fearing Trump’s Advent
But Zelensky is not only concerned about Hungary’s position, which has always been firmly opposed to military aid to Kiev, because on the horizon there is the more than probable election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States at the expense of Joe Biden. An eventuality that could lead, as the tycoon stated during the election campaign, to a progressive disengagement from the Ukrainian conflict. An eventuality that is sending NATO into a state of fibrillation – terrified by the idea of seeing Putin triumph – to the point that, according to a scoop by Wall Street Journalis reportedly trying to shield Ukraine’s long-term support.
To do so, according to the prestigious newspaper citing internal American leaders and those of the Atlantic Pact, NATO’s idea is to establish an office in Kiev, placing its own high-level civilian official inside it. The transatlantic organization would also like to establish a new command center in Wiesbaden, Germany, to coordinate the supply of military equipment to Kiev and the training of Ukrainian troops. All security measures that, for the Wall Street Journalwill be made official during the Alliance summit already scheduled for next July 9 in Washington.
The situation on the ground
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the Kiev and Moscow armies continue to thrash each other. As reported by the commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Mykola Oleshchuk, “Ukrainian pilots have dealt a devastating blow to an ammunition depot in Crimea”.
A blitz to which the Kremlin responded with equal harshness, with a missile attack that hit the Myrhorod airport in Ukraine, destroying five Su-27 jets parked on the runway and two others that were being repaired. An action to which the Dutch Defense Minister, Kajsa Ollongren, responded indirectly, stating that export licenses for the fleet of 24 F-16 fighter jets that “will very soon be delivered to Ukraine” have been finalized.
