Arms manufacturers raking in massive profits, financial profiteers, and Western economic circles who hope to lay their hands on Russia's rich natural resources are the ones who are interested in seeing the Ukraine conflict rage on, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.
"There's always a reason for the start of any war," he said in an interview for local radio, adding that different motivations begin manifesting themselves as each war progresses. Thus, during the Ukraine conflagration, arms manufacturers are flourishing, Orban emphasized, noting that shares in such weapons firms have been posting impressive growth.
"For profiteers - it's a Klondike; for smugglers - a Klondike," Orban told Kossuth radio.
The Hungarian PM pointed to avaricious Western economic circles, including 92-year-old American billionaire George Soros, who "always dreamed of somehow setting foot on Ukrainian soil - and they succeeded - and also hopes to gain access to Russia's natural resources".
Hungarian-born Soros is a financier who has made billions of dollars through investments and currency speculation. His New-York based 'Open Society Foundations' network of NGOs has spread its tentacles all over the world, backing anti-government protests in countries from Venezuela to Ukraine. Hungary and its PM, Orban, are among the handful of countries to resist his influence.
Previously, Orban has branded Ukraine a non-existent country in financial terms.
"The fall in economic indicators is huge, which is completely understandable…. Obviously, Ukraine cannot finance itself. The question is whether we support Ukraine," Orban told a Hungarian broadcaster in April, adding:
He added that "the moment America and Europe answer 'No' to this question", the conflict will end.
Profit Bump
Indeed, as the so-called collective West continues to shower the Kiev regime with sophisticated weaponry in aid of NATO’s proxy war against Russia, defense stocks have been boasting a bumper year.
Share prices show that five leading US weapons firms - Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics - all outperformed major Wall Street indexes in the 12 months since Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
Shares in all these weapons grew by an average of 12.78 percent in value, according to financial market data on 24 February 2023, cited by media reports. Lockheed Martin, that produces, for example, long-range missiles known as the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS), reported first-quarter 2023 net sales of $15.1Bln, compared with $15Bln a year earlier. Over recent months, Lockheed won close to $500Mln of new contracts to build HIMARS and guided rockets for the Kiev regime.
As Western countries' weapon supplies to Ukraine show no sign of abating, Russia has repeatedly warned that weapons deliveries will only prolong the conflict. Furthermore, the West knows the weapons they deliver to Ukraine are being sold on the black market, something mainstream media has tried to silence, US investigative journalist Seymour "Sy" Hersh has told Russian media.
Russia's Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu also said that part of the weapons supplied by the West to Ukraine are already spreading across the Middle East region.