Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán's office has issue a strong negative response to Ukrainian Presdient Volodymyr Zelensky's "victory plan" - which was presented before European Union leaders this week.

Zelensky's plan, if implemented, would be the shortest path to World War III, a statement by the political director of the Hungarian prime minister's office said.

The response further stressed that the EU must be willing to embark on a path of negotiations, de-escalation, and ultimately peace.

Orban had posted his initial reaction to the plan on social media on Thursday, which began, "Today President Zelenskyy will present his plan for victory. What he outlined yesterday in the Ukrainian parliament was more than frightening."

It continued, "Zelensky's ‘victory plan’ is the shortest path to unleashing World War III, so Hungary does not support it."

And referencing Ursula von der Leyen, he wrote further, "I am one of those who urge the European Union to change its current strategy. The European Union went into this war with a badly organized, badly executed, badly calculated strategy, for which the president of the Commission bears the main responsibility."

"We are losing this war, so the strategy is not working. But this does not mean that we need more war, more dangerous and long-range weapons — it means that we need to change from a war strategy to a peace strategy. We need a cease-fire and peace talks!" he stressed in apparent reference to Europe and the NATO alliance.

Orbán pledged that he will lobby German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron to start negotiations with Moscow "on behalf of the entire EU" as soon as possible in order "to find a way out of this situation."

Hungary's defense minister also chimed in as follows...

The Hungarian PM has recently made it clear that he doesn't share the same enthusiasm for Ukraine's risky Kursk offensive (which started in August) as other European leaders, having expressed the desire for a ceasefire in the southern Russian oblast, and expressing the need to safeguard European energy supplies ahead of winter.