Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán believes that Ukraine has already lost the war against Russia, as he commented before a planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Orbán told the far-right news site mandiner.hu on Wednesday, August 13, that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has lost the conflict.

He added that Russia is the clear winner of this war.

The Hungarian leader noted that many people talk about the war as if it has no end, but he said this view is incorrect.

Orbán, who has often blocked EU sanctions against Russia, said Ukraine would not give up as long as it continues to receive weapons and funding from Western countries.

“Otherwise, this war would have ended long ago,” he stated.

Earlier on Tuesday, Hungary refused to join a joint statement with its 26 EU partners. The statement praised Trump’s efforts to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.

The EU declaration emphasized that Ukraine’s borders must not be changed by force and that its territorial integrity should be protected.

Orbán explained that Hungary did not support the statement because it tried to set rules for negotiations that EU leaders were not even part of.

The upcoming meeting between Trump and Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, on Friday has raised concerns in Kyiv and across Europe.

There is fear that the two leaders might make a deal forcing Ukraine to give up some of its territory, which Zelensky has strongly refused.

In a Facebook post, Orbán said it was already unfortunate that the EU has been sidelined.

“The only thing worse would be if we were giving instructions from the sidelines,” he wrote.