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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told European leaders that Donald Trump is “ready to act as a peace mediator between Russia and Ukraine” if elected president, as fears spread across the continent that Trump would try to force Kiev to cede territory to Moscow.
Orban’s letter, addressed to European Council President Charles Michel and sent to all EU leaders, came after his controversial meetings with former President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
“I can say with certainty that Trump will not wait until after his inauguration to be ready to act as a peace mediator right away. He has detailed and well-reasoned plans for this,” Orban wrote.
The authoritarian Hungarian prime minister has tried to cast himself as a peacemaker in the conflict, but his stance runs counter to that of most European Union leaders, who have made clear they would support Ukraine in repelling Russian military action.
In a letter to the leaders, Orban said it was “generally observed” during the meeting that “the intensity of the military conflict in Ukraine will escalate sharply in the near future.”
Orban also hinted that Trump might cut aid to Ukraine if he was elected, saying: “I am quite sure that if President Trump wins, the ratio of the financial burden between the United States and the European Union will change significantly, and the European Union will be at a disadvantage in terms of financial support for Ukraine.”
Trump tends to make sweeping statements on foreign policy, and he did so in a CNN Last year, he said at a town hall, “If I’m elected president, I’m going to solve this war in 24 hours a day.”
During a CNN debate with President Joe Biden last month, Trump said the terms of a deal proposed by Putin — which would include Ukraine ceding four territories currently occupied by Russia — were “unacceptable.”
But the former president, who will formally accept the Republican nomination at the Republican National Convention later this week, has also criticized U.S. military aid to Kiev.
Orban, a rare longtime ally of Trump in the European Union, undertook what was previously called a “peace mission,” meeting with Putin in Moscow on July 5 and Xi in Beijing on July 8. Last Thursday, he met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
He also visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev in early July, his first visit to Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
In his letter, Orban called on EU leaders to work towards a “window of opportunity” to open a “new chapter” in EU policy, urging them to “work to reduce tensions and/or create conditions for a temporary ceasefire in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and/or launch peace talks.”
Hungary took over the EU’s rotating presidency last month and unveiled the slogan “Make Europe Great Again,” a parody of Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan.
But Orban’s visits with Putin, Xi and Trump were not well received by EU lawmakers, who accused him of seriously “distorting” and “undermining” the bloc’s foreign policy stance.
A letter to the three EU chiefs signed by 63 MEPs said Orban had “caused significant damage” through his meetings.
“Prime Minister Orban deliberately gave the impression in his so-called peace mission that he represented the entire EU, when in fact he had no right to represent the EU or any other member state except himself,” the MEPs said.
The lawmakers called the meeting particularly damaging given Hungary’s current presidency of the European Council and said Orban had “abused” the post he took up in early July.
The EU lawmakers ended their letter by calling on the three EU leaders, Charles Michel, Ursula von der Leyen and Roberta Messora, to suspend Hungary’s voting rights in the European Council, saying that past examples showed that “mere verbal condemnation” of Hungary “is ineffective.” (CNN)
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