BERLIN, July 8. /TASS/. Europe is simply copying the US policy about Ukraine instead of pursuing its own strategic interests, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in an interview with the Bild newspaper.
"China has a peace plan, while America pursues a policy of war. And Europe, instead of following its own strategic approach, is simply copying the American position," he said.
Orban called for "a somewhat bigger and more thorough conversation about what Europe's strategic interests are, especially for the period after the US elections."
"I can say that the Europeans, under US leadership, should pursue an independent, sovereign foreign policy," he argued.
"I want to outline alternatives to the dominant policies. Therefore, the discussion that my trips (to Russia, Ukraine and China - TASS) have provoked and that my future visits will provoke is not bad, but good," the Hungarian prime minister went on to say.
He noted that he had not informed anyone in the EU about his visits.
"Sovereignty is important for the peace mission I am now carrying out," Orban said.
Orban explaining that his biggest reason to travel to Moscow and Kiev was to stop "the loss of human lives."
"This is the most important moral motivation. But along with that, there are also Europe's own interests, because what is happening there [in Ukraine] is very bad for us," Orban continued.
"The European economy and the European people" are suffering, according to the prime minister.
"I am not arguing about who is right and who is wrong. After all, my goal is peace and a ceasefire," he said.
"There are very few people in the world who know more about Russia than the Hungarians and, above all, their prime minister. I know the Russians. They are different from us. They have a different history, a different culture, different instincts and perceptions, a different idea of freedom and a different understanding of national sovereignty," Orban went on to say.
He said he believes that the conflict in Ukraine has "no solution on the battlefield."
"Let's start negotiating or at least realize that there is no solution on the ground," the Hungarian prime minister said. "Even if both leaders, which is logical, are rather against a quick ceasefire, everyone in general knows that it would be better if Russians and Ukrainians were not dying as soon as tomorrow morning," he stated.
The Hungarian prime minister said he wanted to discuss the possibility of settling the Ukrainian conflict with five key players - Russia, Ukraine, the US, the EU and China. Orban is currently on a visit to China. On July 5, he discussed with Putin in Moscow possible ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine and start peace talks. On July 2, he visited Kiev, where he spoke about this with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.