Trump Ready to Be a ‘Peace Broker’ in Ukraine, Orban Tells Skeptical European Leaders

CNN
—

Prime Minister of Hungary viktor urban Russian President Vladimir Putin has told European leaders that US President Donald Trump is “ready to act as a peace broker” between Russia and Ukraine if he is elected president, amid fears across the continent that Trump will try to force Kiev to cede territory to Moscow.

Orban’s letter to European Council President Charles Michel and addressed to all EU leaders came in the wake of his controversial meetings with former President Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

“I can […] Surely, shortly after he wins the election, he will not wait until his inauguration, [Trump] “He will be ready to act as a peace mediator immediately,” Orban wrote. “He has detailed and well-thought-out plans for this.”

Hungary’s authoritarian prime minister has sought to portray himself as a peacemaker in the conflict, but his position is at odds with that of most European Union leaders, who have pledged unequivocal support for Ukraine as it tries to fend off Russian military efforts.

In his letter to those leaders, Orban said that during the meetings there was a “general observation” that the “intensity of the military conflict” in Ukraine “will escalate radically in the near future.”

Orbán also hinted at Trump’s plans to cut aid to Ukraine if he is elected, saying: “I am more than convinced that in the likely outcome of President Trump’s victory, the financial burden ratio between the United States and the European Union will change significantly in favour of the European Union when it comes to financial support for Ukraine.”

Trump, who has a penchant for making sweeping statements on foreign policy, told CNN last year: “If I were president, I would end this war in one day, 24 hours.”

in CNN debate last month Trump said at a news conference with President Joe Biden that Putin’s terms for the deal – which include Ukraine ceding four territories currently occupied by Russia – were “unacceptable.”

But the former president, who is set to formally accept the Republican nomination at the party’s national convention later this week, has also criticized U.S. military aid to Kiev.

Orban — a rare longtime ally of Trump in the EU — has pledged what he previously called “peace missions.” Putin meeting In Moscow on July 5th and Something in Beijing On July 8, Trump met last Thursday at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

he is too Visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv in early July, on his first visit to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion.

In his letter, Orban called on EU leaders to try to find a “window of opportunity” to start a “new chapter” in EU policy, urging them to “make efforts to reduce tensions and/or create conditions for a temporary ceasefire and/or start peace negotiations” in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Hungary took over the rotating presidency of the European Union last month, Logo unveiled “Make Europe Great Again” was Trump’s 2016 election slogan.

But his visits to Putin, Xi and Trump have not gone down well with EU lawmakers, who have accused Orban of “distorting” and “undermining” the EU’s position on foreign policy.

In a letter to Orban on Tuesday, European Council President Charles Michel responded to several points raised by the Hungarian prime minister.

“The most direct path to peace is for Russia to withdraw all its forces from Ukraine and respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the UN Charter,” Michel wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by CNN.

Michel wrote that “no discussion on Ukraine can take place without Ukraine” and rejected Orbán’s claim that the EU had led a “pro-war policy,” saying “quite the opposite.”

“Russia is the aggressor and Ukraine is the victim exercising its legitimate right to self-defense,” Michel wrote. “Russia is waging a war of aggression in gross violation of international law and Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty in accordance with the UN Charter.”

Michel noted that “the EU’s position on Ukraine is unanimously agreed by the European Council and was recently confirmed in June.”

The European Council president told Orban that Hungary, which holds the rotating presidency of the council until the end of the year, “has no role in representing (the EU) on the international stage and has not received any mandate from the European Council to participate on behalf of the Union.”

“I made this clear even before my visit to Moscow, and High Representative Borrell later confirmed it in his statement of July 5,” Michel wrote.

Michel said in his letter that he would share it with other members of the European Council, and “will also inform Ukraine of this exchange.”

separate Letter signed by 63 European Members of ParliamentIn a letter to the three heads of state and government, Kerry said Orban had “caused serious damage” through his meetings.

“In his so-called peace mission, Prime Minister Orbán deliberately created the impression that he was acting on behalf of the entire European Union, while in fact he has no authority to represent the EU or any Member State other than his own,” the MEPs said.

Lawmakers described the meetings as particularly damaging given that Hungary currently holds the presidency of the European Council, saying Orban was guilty of “abuse” of the position he took over at the beginning of July.

The MEPs concluded their letter by calling on the bloc’s three leaders, Michel, Ursula von der Leyen and Roberta Metsola, to suspend Hungary’s voting rights in the European Council, arguing that previous examples had shown that “verbal condemnation of Hungary by the Hungarians has no effect”.