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Orban visited the White House during Trump’s presidency in 2019 and most recently visited the former president in Florida.
CNN
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has told European leaders that Donald Trump is “ready to act as a peace broker” between Russia and Ukraine if elected president, amid fears across the continent that Trump will try to force kyiv to cede territory to Moscow.
Orban’s letter, addressed to European Council President Charles Michel and sent to all European Union leaders, was written following his controversial meetings with former President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
“I can (…) say with certainty that shortly after his election victory, he will not wait for his inauguration, he will be ready to act immediately as a peace mediator. He has detailed and well-founded plans for this,” Orban wrote.
Hungary’s authoritarian prime minister has sought to portray himself as a peacemaker in the conflict, but his position is at odds with most EU leaders, who have pledged unequivocal support for Ukraine as it tries to repel Russia’s military effort.
In his letter to Ukrainian leaders, Orban said that during the meetings there had been a “general observation” that “the intensity of the military conflict” in Ukraine “will escalate dramatically in the near future.”
Orban also hinted at Trump’s plans to potentially cut aid to Ukraine if elected, saying: “I am more than convinced that in the likely event of President Trump’s victory, the proportion of the financial burden between the United States and the EU will change significantly to the detriment of the EU when it comes to financial support for Ukraine.”
Trump, who tends to make radical statements on foreign policy, said during a CNN town hall last year: “If I’m president, I will solve this war in one day, 24 hours.”
During last month’s CNN debate with President Joe Biden, Trump said the terms of a deal proposed by Putin — which would include Ukraine ceding four territories currently occupied by Russia — were “not acceptable.”
But the former president, who is expected to formally accept the Republican nomination at the party’s national convention later this week, also criticized U.S. military aid to kyiv.
Orban, a rare and longtime Trump ally in the EU, has undertaken what he has previously called his “peace missions,” meeting Putin in Moscow on July 5 and Xi in Beijing on July 8. Last Thursday, he met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
He also visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in kyiv in early July, marking his first visit to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion.
In his letter, Orban called on EU leaders to try to find a “window of opportunity” to open a “new chapter” in EU policy, urging them to “make an effort to reduce tensions and/or create conditions for a temporary ceasefire and/or start peace negotiations” in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Hungary took over the rotating EU presidency last month, unveiling a slogan – “Make Europe Great Again” – that mimics Trump’s 2016 election motto.
But his visits with Putin, Xi and Trump were poorly received by European lawmakers, who accused Orban of “distorting” and “undermining” the EU’s foreign policy position in vital ways.
In a letter to Orban on Tuesday, European Council President Charles Michel responded to many of the points raised by the Hungarian prime minister.
“The most direct way to achieve peace is for Russia to withdraw all its forces from Ukraine and respect the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the UN Charter,” Michel wrote in a letter, a copy of which was obtained by CNN.
Michel wrote that “no discussion on Ukraine can take place without Ukraine” and rejected Orban’s claim that the EU has pursued a “pro-war policy”, saying “it is quite the opposite”.
“Russia is the aggressor and Ukraine is the victim exercising its legitimate right to self-defense. Russia is waging a war of aggression in flagrant violation of international law, the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine in accordance with the UN Charter,” Michel wrote.
Michel stressed that “the EU position on Ukraine was approved by consensus by the European Council and was confirmed most recently in June.”
The European Council president also told Orban that Hungary, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council until the end of the year, “has no role to play in representing the European Union on the international stage and has received no mandate from the European Council to engage on behalf of the Union.”
“I made this clear even before your visit to Moscow and it was subsequently reiterated by High Representative Borrell in his statement of 5 July,” Michel wrote.
Michel said in his letter that he would share it with other members of the European Council and that he would “also inform Ukraine of this exchange.”
A separate letter signed by 63 European lawmakers, addressed to the three EU heads of state and government, said Orban had “caused significant damage” during his meetings.
“In his so-called peace mission, Prime Minister Orban has deliberately given the impression that he is acting on behalf of the entire European Union, when in reality he has no authority to represent the EU or any member state other than his own,” the MEPs said.
MEPs described the meetings as particularly damaging given Hungary’s current presidency of the European Council, saying Orban was guilty of “abusing” the position he assumed in early July.
The EU lawmakers ended their letter by calling on the bloc’s three leaders, Michel, Ursula von der Leyen and Roberta Metsola, to suspend Hungary’s voting rights in the European Council, arguing that past examples have shown that “mere verbal condemnation” of Hungary has “no effect”.
News Source : amp.cnn.com
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