OAN Roy Francis
2:18 PM PT – Tuesday, February 28, 2023
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivered a speech to the Hungarian national parliament on Monday, where he warned against war and supported China’s peace plan for the Ukraine war.
Orban warned his parliament that “the whole of Europe is slipping into war, step by step.”
“We need a ceasefire and the start of peace talks; Hungary calls for peace in all international forums; I see that most states support peace and Hungary cannot isolate itself from most of the world,” he said according to the Hungarian news website Telex. “Therefore, we consider China’s peace plan important, and we support it.”
China had released its peace plan on Friday, the day that marked the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The 12-point position paper called for an immediate ceasefire and on all parties involved to stop “fanning the flames” of war, as well as opposed to any use of sanctions and nuclear weapons.
The Hungarian Prime Minister has long been considered Beijing’s closest ally in the European Union. He has recently also warned against European countries sending jets to Ukraine, because according to him, troops would soon follow that move.
Orban has been known to break with the E.U.’s consensus on foreign policy, as well as withholding certain sanction packages and export of weapons to Kyiv. He has also previously referred to the Ukrainian president as an “opponent” which drew criticism from other leaders as well as Zelenskyy himself.
On other hand, the other European leaders criticized China’s plan, saying that it mainly favors Russia.
“China introduced its ‘position paper’ on a political settlement. It is not really a peace plan and mostly reiterates well-known Chinese positions – some of which we share while important ones are missing,” E.U. Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell wrote on Sunday.
China’s proposal was also rejected by the United States and NATO. However, Zelenskyy had said that he welcomed the plan. The leader agreed with parts of the peace proposal but also rejected other parts.
The Ukrainian president also expressed his desire to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming weeks.
Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said that the Chinese proposal deserves “great attention,” however their assault on Ukraine will not be halted. He stated that Moscow sees “no preconditions at present” for the conflict to end.
As Beijing released its proposition paper, the West has again sent warnings to the Communist nation against sending arms and support to Russia. Zelenskyy had warned of a world war if China was side with Russia in the conflict.
Zhanna Leshchynska, charge d’affaires at the Ukrainian Embassy had called on China to talk to both sides if it truly is taking a neutral position in the war.
Outside of the peace proposition, China so far has only communicated with Russia.
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