Ukraine, Borrell reassures NATO allies after Orbán’s headlong rush: “The only peace plan is Zelensky’s”

Brussels – At the 75th NATO summit closing today (July 11) in Washington, Ukraine’s irreversible path to membership in the Atlantic alliance was established, as irreversible as the European Union’s position on support for Kyiv until a just peace is achieved. After the trips to Moscow and Beijing of Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian Prime Minister who holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council, comes the reassurance to allies from the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell: “There is no other peace plan than Zelensky’s. The whole EU supports this position.”

Territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Ukraine. Any negotiations to end the conflict can only start from there. Period. In a summit where the Ukrainian issue is one of the hottest on the table of the transatlantic allies, both on the military aid front and on Kyiv’s future membership in NATO, the head of EU diplomacy was keen to dispel any doubts. “For Ukraine to prevail, we must continue to support it,” he clarified at a press point today. Borrell recalled that Brussels has provided Kyiv with “nearly €40 billion in military support and trained 60,000 Ukrainian soldiers” and is now “increasing the military capacity and boosting the production capacity of the defence industry” to meet Kyiv’s needs on the battlefield.

Borrell then lashed out at those who argued that continuing to arm Zelensky’s army would only prolong the war. “If we stop supporting Ukraine, the war will certainly end, but with a Ukrainian surrender, with a puppet government in Kyiv, with the Ukrainian people being crushed by an aggressor,” the High Representative said again. In short, there is no room for escapades by Orbán, who has created havoc among the 27 by taking advantage of the start of the six-month presidency of the EU Council to embark on his personal “peace mission.” That brought him to the Putin and Xi Jinping courts after asking Zelensky to call a ceasefire and negotiate with the Kremlin.

The same Kremlin that, in the summit’s final statement, is called “the most significant and direct threat to the security of the Alliance.” So much so that, as announced on the sidelines of the summit, from 2026, the United States will return to deploy long-range missiles in Europe, capable of hitting targets on Russian territory.

The bogeyman of Donald Trump’s return to the White House also hovers in Washington, which could reshuffle the cards of the Atlantic Alliance once again. This is why there is a sense of urgency in securing the position of the Atlantic alliance alongside Ukraine. Not to miss anything, according to Bloomberg, Orbán will travel to Florida to meet with the tycoon on the sidelines of the NATO summit. One more piece in his diplomatic initiative to end the conflict. A further rift with Brussels, whose legal services said today that last week’s visit by the Hungarian leader to Moscow would violate EU rules.