Orban called for Ukraine to return "the status of a buffer state"

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on January 24 that the North Atlantic Alliance should recognize the impossibility of advancing to Russia's borders and begin negotiations on returning Ukraine to the "status of a buffer state."

Speaking at an event in Kaposvar, broadcast by M1 TV channel, he stressed that Moscow inevitably responds with force to attempts of military approach to its borders.

"I don't see any other solution but to recognize that NATO and the EU cannot directly withdraw troops to Russia's borders. <...> That's why there should always be something between Russia and their borders, some kind of buffer zone. And we have to agree on how this land called Ukraine, which was a buffer zone and has now become a war zone, can become a buffer state again," Orban said.

In his opinion, the roots of the conflict are connected with NATO's intention to integrate Ukraine into the Western security system, while Russia, as the Hungarian Prime Minister noted, proceeds from its right to prevent the presence of hostile Armed forces at its own borders.

"I suggest now not to seek the truth in this conflict, but to look for ways to achieve peace and minimize serious dangers. <...> We can achieve this," Orban stressed.

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On the same day, Director of the Second Department of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Russian Foreign Minister Alexei Polishchuk said that in order to resolve the conflict, Ukraine must return to non-aligned status. He added that Kiev also needs to restore respect for linguistic and religious human rights and freedoms, ethnic Russians, Russian-speaking citizens and national minorities, as well as abandon neo-Nazi ideology.

The Berliner Zeitung newspaper reported on January 23 that Ukraine would have to make peace on terms acceptable to Russia. The author of the article noted that Ukraine would have to refuse to join NATO, make territorial concessions, and accept the fact that no foreign military contingent would be deployed in the country.

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