Ukraine could turn into the European Union’s version of Afghanistan if US President Donald Trump is unable to secure a peace deal with Russia, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban cautioned over the weekend.

Speaking at a media event in Dubai, Orban said: “If President Trump is not able to find a solution, the war in Ukraine could become easily an Afghanistan for the EU.”

“Endless war, endless conflict, no way out of the conflict, eating up energy, human lives, money, everything, destroying the frame(work) of normal life for the European Union. So we are in serious danger,” he warned.

“The difficulty is — and that’s not my challenge, but it’s a challenge to President Trump — how to convince the Russians to stop the war while the Russians are basically winning. This is the big question,” he added.

Orban’s comments followed new efforts by Trump to advance peace negotiations.

Trump’s latest call with Russian President Vladimir Putin has sparked worries in Kyiv and across Europe that Washington and Moscow might shape Ukraine’s future without its involvement.

At a major security conference in Munich at the weekend, there was a sense of dismay and disbelief – and a whiff of.

Chief among their fears: that they can no longer be sure of U.S. military protection and that U.S. President Donald Trump will do a Ukraine peace deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin that undermines Kyiv and broader European security.

That concern was stoked by U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s conference speech, which mentioned Ukraine and European defence only in passing and focused on accusing Europe of stifling free speech and failing to manage migration.

European leaders declared they would have to take more responsibility for their own defence, ramping up military spending and arms production.

Female foreign ministers from 17 countries have called on the Islamic Emirate to repeal the laws restricting women and girls in Afghanistan.

In a joint statement issued on Saturday, on the situation of women and girls in the country, the group of foreign ministers denounced the Islamic Emirate’s “morality laws”.

“We denounce and call for the repeal of the Taliban’s (IEA) so called ‘Morality Laws’, which have exacerbated existing restrictions for Afghan women and girls,” the statement read.

“These decrees aim literally to silence Afghan women and girls and confine them to their homes. There is no viable future—no long-term peace, prosperity, or legitimacy—for any state that seeks to effectively erase women from public life.”

In reaction, the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice said that Western countries have a double standard on the issue of human rights and are using it as a tool to pressure the Islamic Emirate.

“If such ministry does not exist in an Islamic system or Islamic society, we cannot call it an Islamic system or Islamic society,” Saif-ul-Islam Khaibar, the ministry’s spokesman, said.

“Those who demand the abolition of this ministry are actually acting against Islamic values, religion, nation, and identity of Afghans, which is unacceptable to all. Instead of making allegations against this ministry, they should adhere to human rights in their own laws.”

In their joint statement, the female foreign ministers also said that the Islamic Emirate’s “systematic exclusion of girls from school—including by barring education for girls above sixth grade—deprives millions of women and girls of their right to education.”

“We encourage all countries to advocate for the full, equal, meaningful, and safe participation of Afghan women in discussions on Afghanistan’s future, including in the U.N.-facilitated Doha process,” the statement said.

A delegation of senior Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) officials was expected to arrive in Tokyo on Sunday in what is the IEA’s first visit to Japan since they regained power in August 2021.

According to Japanese media, the delegation consists of around six government officials in charge of diplomacy, healthcare, education, cultural properties and other policies.

This visit was in response to an invitation offered by an executive of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and Tadamichi Yamamoto, former head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), last year.

Reports state that the delegation will likely request more humanitarian support and may also discuss ties between Japan and Afghanistan with Japanese government officials.

Japan continues to maintain diplomatic functions in Afghanistan and has provided support for medical facilities through the United Nations.