Orban calls Turkey a successful mediator in Ukraine conflict

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called the Turkish government the only successful mediator in the Ukrainian conflict on Friday, December 20, on Kossuth Radio.

"Turkey plays a key role in the peace process because the Turks are the only successful mediators so far," he said.

The politician explained that Turkey 's big achievement was the grain export agreements between Russia and Ukraine.

"Both sides of the conflict look to the Turks as those with whom they are willing to work on peace," Orban added.

Earlier on December 12, Orban will discuss with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. It was specified that Hungary and Turkey reached a high-level strategic partnership at the end of 2023, and since then it has been developing rapidly.

Before that, on November 3, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan expressed the opinion that the crisis in Ukraine should be resolved on the basis of its territorial integrity. He noted that the search for touchpoints between Moscow and Kiev was ongoing and that Ankara had "special relations" with both of them.

On October 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine had already twice approached the Russian Federation with proposals using Turkey as a mediator. At the same time, when the Russian side agreed, Kiev immediately abandoned its own initiatives. The Russian leader also said that Moscow was ready to make reasonable compromises to settle the conflict, but only on the basis of the 2022 Istanbul agreements.