Hungarian Prime Minister Orban meets Donald Trump to discuss 'mission of peace'
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has met with leading US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in an effort to resolve the Ukraine conflict.
The Hungarian leader, who has repeatedly criticized the West’s approach to the conflict and called for an immediate ceasefire, traveled to Russia, Ukraine and China last week to discuss prospects for a peaceful resolution. He then attended the annual NATO summit in Washington, but did not hold high-level talks with US President Joe Biden.
Writing on social network X on July 11, Prime Minister Orban said he visited Mr. Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on a trip he called "peace mission 5.0."
“We discussed ways to make peace. Good news of the day: He will solve it!” - the Hungarian prime minister wrote, posting a photo of himself standing next to Mr. Trump, both smiling.
The leading Republican presidential candidate in the US responded to Mr Orban by writing on the social network Truth Social: “Thank you Viktor. There must be peace, and soon. Too many people have died in a war that should never have started!”
Mr Orban has previously praised Mr Trump as a “man of peace” under whose watch the US has “not started a single war”. The Republican has repeatedly vowed to end the conflict in Ukraine within 24 hours if elected. While details of the plan remain sketchy, Politico last week cited sources as saying that Mr Trump could strike a deal under which “NATO would commit to not expanding further east”, particularly into Ukraine and Georgia, while holding talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin “on how much Ukrainian territory Moscow could keep”.
During his visit to Kiev, the Hungarian leader called on Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky to agree to a ceasefire with Russia, but the proposal was rejected. Mr. Zelensky also said that Mr. Orban did not have the necessary influence to negotiate an end to the conflict, noting that only the US, the EU or China could take on that role.
Mr Orban also traveled to Russia and met with Mr Putin in what he said was an effort to find “the shortest way out” of the conflict in Ukraine. Many media reports said the trip angered many Western officials. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Ukraine had a right to be concerned about efforts to negotiate peace without its participation. “Any adventurism that is being undertaken without Ukraine’s consent or support is not consistent with our policy, with US foreign policy,” he said.
