Trump urged Orban to lift veto on Ukraine’s EU accession talks

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban about his blocking of Ukraine’s accession talks to the European Union, the White House said. The call came after Trump held consultations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders on ways to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.

This is reported by Bloomberg .

According to the newspaper’s sources, the call was a continuation of Trump’s meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and a number of European leaders in Washington. They tried to develop a unified strategy to end the war that has been going on for more than three years. During the discussions, European partners called on the American president to influence Orban to abandon his opposition position.

During the conversation, the Hungarian side also expressed interest in the possibility of holding the next round of talks between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky in Budapest. Trump, in turn, announced his intention to initiate first a bilateral Russia-Ukraine summit, and later a trilateral meeting with his participation. The specific date and venue remain unknown.

Orban did not confirm the call, and the White House declined to comment on whether Budapest was indeed being considered as a potential venue for talks. At the same time, the Hungarian prime minister has made his position public.

“Ukraine’s membership in the European Union does not provide any security guarantees. Therefore, combining the issue of membership with security guarantees is unnecessary and dangerous,” he said.

Hungary has repeatedly obstructed EU decisions on Ukraine, blocking financial aid and sanctions packages against Russia. Orban maintains close relations with the Kremlin and does not hide his sympathies for Donald Trump, who is considered his political ally.

Recall that European leaders issued a joint statement in support of Ukraine on the eve of Donald Trump’s planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 26 out of 27 EU leaders — with the exception of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban — made their position public.

Subsequently, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban explained why he did not join the joint statement of the leaders of the European Union countries in support of Ukraine, and also called for a separate EU summit with Russia.

Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that his country was not offering Ukraine membership in the European Union , but strategic cooperation on pragmatic terms.

Also follow “Pryamim” on Facebook , Twitter , Telegram , and Instagram.