Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with former U.S. President and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Florida on July 11 after the Central European leader's attendance at NATO's 75th anniversary summit in Washington concluded earlier the same day.
Orban asserted that the visit was part of a self-styled "peace mission" that he has been conducting despite objections from Brussels since Hungary took over the six-month rotating EU Council presidency this month, taking him to Kyiv, Moscow, and Beijing en route to the NATO event.
"We discussed ways to make #peace," Orban tweeted after the meeting with Trump, adding, "The good news of the day: he’s going to solve it!"
EU leaders have repeatedly distanced themselves from Orban's "peace mission," and Orban has acknowledged that he has no authority to act on other EU members' behalf stemming from the council presidency.
Orban has publicly endorsed Trump's candidacy and raised eyebrows by planning the visit to the billionaire U.S. politicians' Mar-a-Lago resort after holding no such bilateral meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the summit.
Critics accuse Orban of adopting Kremlin talking points since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, and Budapest has undermined Western sanctions and refused to join fellow EU and NATO allies in helping arm Kyiv to beat back the invasion.
Trump has suggested that if elected in November he will resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict even before he takes office, without elaborating.
Last month during a podcast interview, Trump blamed the war on Ukraine’s possible NATO membership, raising concerns that he may block the country from joining the alliance as part of any potential peace deal.
Hungary has raised doubts about Ukraine's membership in the alliance, saying it risks open conflict with Russia.
"Ukraine's admission wouldn't strengthen but weaken the alliance's unity, as there are completely different viewpoints on their membership," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on July 11.
The United States and NATO allies criticized Orban’s uncoordinated meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month. It was seen as a rogue move by the leader of a NATO country.
Orban's opposition to Ukraine's NATO bid has been watched closely during the summit, but allies said on July 11 that they did not see it denting Kyiv's eventual alliance membership.
SEE ALSO: Ukraine Live Briefing: 3 Children Among Dead In Sumy, OdesaUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed Orban in Kyiv but said he had not in any way endorsed the Hungarian prime minister's mediation efforts in Moscow or beyond.
“The U.S. position, the Biden administration position is: Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. So whatever adventurism is being undertaken without Ukrainians' consent or support is not something that's consistent with our policy or the policy of the United States,” Biden’s national-security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters July 11 on the sidelines of the summit.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters at the NATO summit on July 11 that the Hungarian leader does not represent the opinion of the European Union or NATO. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olah Scholz also expressed frustration with Orban. Macron said it was legitimate for Orban to travel to Russia as the Hungarian prime minister, but not on behalf of the European Union.
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NATO Summit Ends With Promises To Ukraine, New Scrutiny Of Biden
On July 10, Orban said he would not sign on to the so-called Ukraine Compact, a shared pledge among more than 20 NATO to support Ukraine both now and for the long term.
In a video statement posted to his X account, the Hungarian prime minister said that NATO was "behaving more and more like a war organization," citing the alliance's military support for Ukraine.
In a communique issued during the summit, NATO members said that Ukraine’s path into NATO was “irreversible.” When asked about the potential Orban-Trump meeting, outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said it "doesn't undermine or reduce the importance of what we have agreed" at the summit.