As several EU leaders traveled to Kyiv on Tuesday (March 15), Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was in Budapest rallying tens of thousands to march for peace in Ukraine.
Speaking in front of the Hungarian Parliament Building, Orbán justified his arms-length response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “We cannot get between the Ukrainian anvil and the Russian hammer,” he told the crowd.
“It’s in our interest not to be pawns in someone else’s war. In this war we have nothing to gain and everything to lose,” the prime minister said before saying Hungary will not send military assistance to Ukraine.
Although Budapest has supported EU sanctions on Russia and allowed NATO troops to be deployed to the country’s west, Orbán has described sanctions on Russian oil and gas as a “red line” for Hungary.