On 27 July, Hungarian Staff Chief to the Prime Minister Gergely Gulyás said that Ukraine’s counteroffensive had not brought any significant results and that Budapest’s position on “ceasefire negotiations is reasonable,” Radio Liberty reports.
Gulyás said that Ukraine recaptured “only” 200 square kilometers, but the “Russians have captured about the same amount of territory in Donetsk and Kharkiv Oblasts.”
The Hungarian official also claimed that “even according to the most conservative estimates,” at least 310,000 people have been killed and wounded in the Russian-Ukrainian war. He said that the Russians have significantly higher casualties, but they also have reserves.
“The Hungarian government’s position is well-founded when it calls for the start of ceasefire negotiations and peace talks as soon as possible. This is in the interest of all parties and of Hungary,” Gulyás added.
Previously, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s said that Ukraine took back 50% of the territory initially seized by Russia since 2022.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive has been progressing with difficulties due to the large amount of minefields, and a German Bundeswehr document reportedly criticized Ukraine’s tactics.
However, the UK’s Minister of Defense James Heappey said in an interview with The Telegraph that Ukraine’s counter-offensive is progressing according to a plan worked out with Britain and the US over the winter and that the Ukrainian military was holding back enough firepower to make a breakthrough at the right time.
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