Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of ignoring Russia’s security concerns and deliberately creating a scenario designed to lure it into war.
In his first direct public comments on the Ukraine crisis for nearly six weeks, a defiant Putin showed no sign of backing down from security demands that Western countries have called non-starters and a possible excuse to launch an invasion.
“It’s already clear now... that fundamental Russian concerns were ignored,” Putin said at a news conference with the visiting prime minister of Hungary Viktor Orban.
Putin described a potential future scenario in which Ukraine was admitted to NATO and then attempted to recapture the Crimea peninsula, territory Russia seized in 2014.
“Let’s imagine Ukraine is a NATO member and starts these military operations. Are we supposed to go to war with the NATO bloc? Has anyone given that any thought? Apparently not,” he said.
The visit of Mr Orban - who pledged co-operation with Moscow - was controversial.
For years Orban’s “eastern opening” strategy has seen his government look eastward for support, leading to frequent meetings with Putin, despite opposition from Brussels. The latest visit came during a time of high tension with concerns over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“This is our 13th meeting,” said Orban in the Kremlin. “That is a rarity. Practically all those who were my colleagues in the EU are no longer.”
For weeks Russia has amassed some 100,000 troops on its border with Ukraine, in an attempt to discourage Kiev from joining NATO while demanding that all of the military alliance forces retreat from eastern Europe.
The Kremlin has denied it has plans to march across its western border and says it will continue to pursue a diplomatic pathway, but Russian reassurances have done little to ease tensions.
As a result, politicians and members of parliament across Europe were quick to criticise the meeting between the leader of an EU member state and Putin.
Hungary’s six-party alliance has publicly accused Orban of arranging the talks in secret, with the opposition candidate for the office of the prime minister Marki-Zay Peter calling him out for betraying “the interests of Hungary and Europe”.
“Unity for Hungary demands that Viktor Orban cancel his visit to Moscow and make it clear: Hungary has a place in the EU and NATO! Peter, who’s facing off against the prime minister in parliamentary elections on 3rd April, wrote on Twitter.
NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday said he had a “good call” with Orban and referred to Hungary as a “staunch ally”.
“In times of peace and crisis, we are united in NATO. We call on Russia to de-escalate and choose a peaceful path. While we remain prepared to deter Russia and defend allies, we continue to strive for dialogue,” Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter.
Márton Gyöngyösi, a member of the European Parliament, launched an appeal through his official site entitled: Orban must not go to Moscow, but if he does, he better not come back. “It is simply treasonous to go to Moscow,” writes Gyöngyösi.
