This was published 9 months ago
Trump won’t let US fund Ukraine defence if elected, says Moscow-ally Orban
By Krisztina Than
Budapest: Former US president Donald Trump will not give money to help Ukraine fight Russia if he wins the presidency again and that will hasten an end to the war, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after meeting him.
Nationalist leader Orban, who is backing his long-time ally’s bid to return to White House, met Trump in Florida on Friday.
“He will not give a penny into the Ukraine-Russia war and therefore the war will end,” Orban told state television late on Sunday. “As it is obvious that Ukraine on its own cannot stand on its feet.”
Hungary’s Viktor Orban and ex-US president Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago last week.Credit: @orbanviktor
“If the Americans do not give money and weapons, and also the Europeans, then this war will be over. And if the Americans do not give money the Europeans are unable to finance this war on their own, and then the war will end.”
Orban has refused to send weapons to Kyiv and kept up close economic ties with Moscow since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022. He last met Russian President Vladimir Putin in October in China despite European Union efforts to isolate Moscow.
Orban said it was “another matter” how the war would be closed with peace talks after a truce, and how a stable and safe Europe would be created, but first peace must be achieved and “he [Trump] has the means for that”.
On Monday, Orban’s official X account posted a video exaggerating Trump’s achievements, extolling their countries’ joint plans if he gets re-elected, and telling Hungarians and the world that both “would better” for both if “president Donald Trump were to return to power”.
A statement from Trump’s campaign did not mention Ukraine, saying the pair discussed issues affecting both nations including their respective border security.
European leaders have long been nervous that another Trump presidency would mean waning US support for both Ukraine and the NATO military alliance.
The Kremlin said it had seen Orban’s remarks but had nothing to add.
“We have seen it, but we have nothing to say, since no details are given there and it is unclear what kind of plan this might be,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Reuters