BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Former U.S. leader 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 premier 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.”
“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 will 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.”
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 U.S. support for both Ukraine and the NATO transatlantic military alliance.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
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