EU leaders are wrong to believe that they can exhaust Russia and help Ukraine win the conflict, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.
The remarks came in response to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s statement at the Munich Security Conference last week, where he suggested that Brussels exacting “unprecedented losses and costs on Moscow” could weaken it and force it to “agree to peace.”
“Who believes that the Russians will run out of steam sooner than Ukraine? It’s a fantasy, an illusion, and irresponsible,” Orban said in a speech on Tuesday, criticizing Brussels’ continued financial and military aid to Kiev.
During his Munich address, Merz claimed that the EU has not used its full potential against Moscow, saying that while the bloc’s GDP is “almost ten times higher” than that of Russia, “Europe today is not ten times stronger than Russia.”
EU leaders have doubled down on pressuring Moscow. Top diplomat Kaja Kallas has insisted Russia is not ready for meaningful negotiations on the Ukraine conflict. The Munich conference also saw Kiev and its backers sign several defense industry deals, including joint ventures for drone production in Germany.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio lamented in Budapest on Monday that the Ukraine conflict is “one of the few wars” that some in the international community have been backing and resisting efforts to bring to an end.
Russia, Ukraine, and the US have held two rounds of trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi this year. A new round began on Tuesday in Geneva, with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff praising “meaningful progress” by the delegations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in December that Moscow prefers diplomacy but will achieve its goals by military means if necessary. On the battlefield, Russian forces have maintained a steady offensive.
Russian officials have accused Kiev’s European backers of hindering US-led peace efforts and of increasingly preparing for a direct confrontation with Moscow, aiming at creating an enemy image to distract Western taxpayers from domestic problems.
Belgium has summoned US Ambassador Bill White after he accused the authorities of harassing the Jewish community.
In a post on X on Monday, White called on Belgium to drop the prosecution of three mohels – Jewish religious figures who perform circumcisions – suspected of carrying out the procedures in Antwerp without a medical license.
“Stop this unacceptable harassment of the Jewish community here in Antwerp and in Belgium,” White wrote, adding that the mohels were “doing what they have been trained to do for thousands of years.”
White also accused Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke of being “very rude” and refusing to shake his hand or pose for a photograph during their first meeting. “It was clear that you dislike America,” White wrote.
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot condemned White’s remarks. “Any suggestion that Belgium is antisemitic is false, offensive, and unacceptable. Belgium condemns antisemitism with the greatest firmness,” Prevot wrote on X.
“Personal attacks against a Belgian minister and interference in judicial matters violate basic diplomatic norms,” he added. Prevot noted that under Belgian law only qualified physicians are permitted to perform circumcisions and said he would refrain from commenting on the specific case.
White told reporters on Tuesday that there was “no need for an apology” on his part and expressed hope that Belgium would “legalize this process so these individuals can resume their lives.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar backed White, citing what he described as “a sharp and consecutive rise in antisemitic attacks in Belgium.” He urged Prevot to “take a hard look in that mirror and acknowledge reality.”
In response, Prevot warned against “the inflationary use of the term antisemitism” and rejected claims of widespread anti-Jewish sentiment in Belgium.
