Orban wrote a letter to EU leaders threatening "dramatic events" on the frontline if negotiations do not start

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has been on a so-called "peacekeeping mission" to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing since early July, wrote a non-public letter to the EU leadership in which he informed them of his meetings with Ukrainian and Russian Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin and detailed the Kremlin's position on Russia's war against Ukraine.

This was reported by Radio Liberty, which received the document from a European official who wished to remain anonymous.

"In the next two months, more dramatic losses and military events on the front line are possible on the Ukrainian fronts than ever before," the Hungarian prime minister warned.

The letter is dated 5 July and was sent from Azerbaijan, where Orban travelled after his meeting with Putin in Moscow, before meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Orban writes that during his trips to Ukraine and Russia, he did not speak on behalf of the entire EU, but only wanted to learn about the positions of the warring parties.

He writes rather sparingly about the position of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but goes into detail about Putin's views on the war.

According to Orban's observations, the Russian authorities are convinced that "time is not on Ukraine's side, but on the side of the Russian forces". In his conversation with the Hungarian prime minister, Putin did not mention Russian losses at the front, but he spoke extensively about his calculations of Ukrainian losses. Orbán, referring to Putin, said "40-50 thousand a month", the same estimate Putin recently gave at a meeting with foreign media.

"The Russian president was shocked that the Ukrainian president rejected the temporary ceasefire," Orban writes.

Zelenskyy has repeatedly said that Ukraine is not ready for a temporary ceasefire, as Russia could use this period to build up forces in the occupied territories.

According to Orban, Putin fears the same actions on the part of Ukraine. "According to the Russian president, they are ready to consider any proposal for a ceasefire that does not serve as a covert redeployment and regrouping of Ukrainian forces," Orban said.

He noted that both Moscow and Kyiv are ready for peace talks only with the participation of both sides. After the peace summit in Switzerland, Ukraine said it would invite Russia to the next summit. This is the only moment in the letter when Orban recounts Ukraine's position on the talks, Radio Liberty notes.

Background. As reported, after his visit to Putin, Orban published an article in which he accused NATO of "abandoning peace" and "supporting war". He said that today it is NATO that is fuelling "military confrontation with other global geopolitical centres of power".

Meanwhile, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Orban was not influential enough to mediate between Ukraine and Russia. The mediator must be economically powerful and have influence on the Russian economy, he said.