Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has claimed that if former U.S. President Donald Trump wins the 2024 election, he will effectively end the war in Ukraine by cutting off funding to Kyiv. In an interview with Hungarian state media on Sunday, Orbán said Trump has a "very clear vision" and a "detailed plan" to end the conflict in Ukraine.
"He says the following: first, he will not give a single penny for the Russo-Ukrainian war," Orbán said. "That's why the war will end, because it's obvious that Ukraine cannot stand on its own two feet."
Orbán's comments came just two days after he met with Trump at the former president's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Sources familiar with the meeting described it as a "social" and "friendly" gathering with no agenda, lasting roughly an hour.
The Hungarian leader, who has been a longstanding opponent to European Union and NATO efforts to assist Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion two years ago, framed his position as "pro-peace." However, critics argue that cutting off aid to Ukraine would effectively reward Moscow for waging war against a weaker neighbor and allow it to sue for peace on its own terms.
Trump, who has effectively locked up the Republican nomination for president, has taken a similar isolationist approach as he campaigns to retake the White House in November. He has vowed to end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours if elected, a process that could only happen on Putin's terms and reward his illegal invasion.
The meeting between Orbán and Trump, both far-right populists known for their anti-immigrant and demagogic rhetoric, has sparked concern among some U.S. officials and foreign policy experts. John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser, told CNN that Trump's lavish praise for Orbán and other autocratic leaders like Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdoğan suggests he is doubling down on his support for strongmen as Western democracies struggle to stay united in their support for Ukraine.
"He likes dealing with other big guys, and big guys like Erdogan in Turkey get to put people in jail and you don't have to ask anybody's permission. He kind of likes that," Bolton said.
Trump's former advisers say he consistently lavished praise on Putin during his time in office, and several of them believe that in a potential second term, Trump would bring a fundamental shift in America's vision of itself and its role in the world - including potentially pulling the U.S. out of NATO and reducing its commitment to other defense alliances.
"NATO would be in real jeopardy," Bolton warned.
The meeting between Trump and Orbán has also drawn criticism from U.S. President Joe Biden, who slammed the Republican frontrunner for hosting the Hungarian strongman at Mar-a-Lago.
Orbán's comments suggest that if Trump wins the 2024 election, it could have significant implications for the ongoing war in Ukraine and the future of the NATO alliance. As the campaign heats up, the issue of U.S. support for Ukraine and the country's role in the world is likely to be a major point of contention between the two candidates.
