The EU needs to restore diplomatic relations with Russia and establish political interaction with the countries of the Global South, whose respect Europe has lost "because of its position on the war in Ukraine," Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a letter to European Council President Charles Michel.

According to Bild, citing the document, Orban also suggested starting a dialog with China on a peace conference and warned that the intensity of the military conflict in Ukraine would "radically escalate" in the near future.

According to Orban, the incumbent president US will not change his "pro-war policy" towards the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but Donald Trump, immediately after a possible election victory, "will be ready to act as a mediator for a peaceful settlement." Trump has "detailed and thorough plans in this regard," the Hungarian prime minister assured.

Orban wrote the letter to the European Council president after visits to Ukraine, Russia and China, as well as a meeting with Trump in the United States. EU leaders condemned the Hungarian prime minister's trip to Moscow, emphasizing that they did not give him the authority to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin on behalf of the European Union. In response to Orban's actions, EU countries decided to boycott a meeting of foreign ministers that Hungary plans to hold in Budapest at the end of August.

Following his travels, Orban told his European colleagues that Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping expect peace talks to resume before the end of 2024. In this regard, the Hungarian prime minister urged the EU to launch a peace dialog without waiting for the U.S., as Washington should not be expected to take the initiative until at least November.

Putin has previously spoken of his readiness to restore relations with Western countries, which he called Russia's adversaries who want to bring discord and weaken the country from within.