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Orban Proposes to EU to Reopen Direct Communication Lines With Russia

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The European Union should reopen direct communication lines with Russia while maintaining the current level of contacts with Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a report to European Council President Charles Michel published on Thursday.
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"While maintaining the current high-level political contacts with Ukraine, reopening direct lines of diplomatic communication with Russia and the rehabilitation of such direct contacts in our political communication;" Orban said in a report.
The EU’s policy on Ukraine has resulted in the "global isolation of the transatlantic community" and loss of appreciation from the Global South, Orban added.
The European Union should conduct high-level political talks with China to discuss the modalities of the next conference on Ukraine, the prime minister also said in the report.
"I propose initiating a discussion on the following proposals: a. the initiative to conduct high-level political talks with China on the modalities of the next peace conference;" the document read.
The prime minister also asked Michel to present his report and proposals to EU leaders.
"China will continue its policy also formulated in international documents calling for a ceasefire and peace talks. However, China will play a more active role only if the chance for success of its engagement is close to certain. In their evaluation this is not the case at the moment," he said.
The military conflict in Ukraine will "radically escalation" in the near future, Viktor Orban noted.

"It is a general observation that the intensity of the military conflict will radically escalate in the near future," he said in the report after visiting Ukraine and Russia.

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The European Union, the United States and China are "global players" with the ability to "influence developments" in the current situation, Orban pointed out.
"We also have to take into consideration as an important regional player Turkiye as the only successful mediator between Ukraine and Russia since the outbreak of the hostilities in 2022," the report read.
US presidential candidate Donald Trump is unlikely to propose any peace initiatives on Ukraine until the US election, but will be ready to act as a peace broker before his potential inauguration, Prime Minister Orban added.

"During my talks with President Trump, I came to a conclusion that foreign policy will play only a small role in his campaign, which is dominated by internal political questions. Therefore we can expect no peace initiative coming from him until the elections. I can however surely state that shortly after his election victory, he will not wait until his inauguration, but will be ready to act as a peace broker immediately. He has detailed and well-founded plans for this," he noted.

Orban added that US President Joe Biden is currently making efforts to stay in the election race, while the country is "preoccupied" with the election campaign.
"It is obvious that he [Biden] is not capable of modifying the current US pro-war policy and therefore cannot be expected to start a new policy," Orban said.
The EU "has coped" that pro-war policy of the US so far, but it can find a "window of opportunity" to begin a new chapter that can lead to creating "the conditions for a temporary ceasefire and/or start peace negotiations," Orban said.
"I am more than convinced that in the likely outcome of the victory of President Trump, the proportion of the financial burden between the US and the EU will significantly change to the EU’s disadvantage when it comes to the financial support of Ukraine," the report read.
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