Donald Trump “will not give a penny” to Ukraine if he is re-elected US president, the far-right Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, said after a controversial meeting with Trump in Florida.
“He will not give a penny in the Ukraine-Russia war,” Orbán told state media in Hungary on Sunday. “Therefore, the war will end, because it is obvious that Ukraine cannot stand on its own feet.”
According to Orbán, Trump has a “detailed plan” to end the Ukraine war, which began two years ago when Russia invaded.
The US and its allies have supported Ukraine but further US aid is held up in Congress, having passed the Senate with bipartisan support only to be blocked in the House, which is controlled by far-right Trump allies.
Calling Trump “a man of peace”, Orbán said: “If the Americans don’t give money and weapons, along with the Europeans, the war is over. And if the Americans don’t give money, the Europeans alone can’t finance this war. And then the war is over.” (This would probably mean Ukraine losing the war to Russia.)
Despite facing 91 criminal charges and having suffered multimillion-dollar reverses in civil suits concerning his business affairs and a rape allegation a judge deemed “substantially true”, Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee.
Long seen to demonstrate deference towards and enthusiasm for Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, Trump recently suggested that if re-elected he would encourage Russia to attack US allies he deemed not to contribute enough to the Nato alliance.
Joe Biden has condemned such remarks, as “dumb, shameful and un-American” and has recently accused Trump of capitulating to authoritarian leaders.
Orbán and Trump met at Trump’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida, last weekend.
In a statement, Orbán said: “President Trump was a president of peace, he commanded respect in the world, and thus he created the conditions for peace. During his presidency there was peace in the Middle East and peace in Ukraine. And there would be no war today if he were still president of the United States.
“We agreed that there will be peace when there are world leaders who want peace. I am proud that Hungary is one of those countries. We also agreed that there is still much potential in US-Hungarian economic relations.
“Here in America the campaign is in full swing, and indeed is rushing ahead. It is up to Americans to make their own decision, and it is up to us Hungarians to frankly admit that it would be better for the world – and better for Hungary, too – if President Donald Trump were to return to power.”
Trump said: “There’s nobody that’s better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orbán. He’s fantastic, he’s a non-controversial figure because he says, ‘This is the way it’s going to be,’ and that’s the end of it. Right? He’s the boss. No, he’s a great leader.”
On Saturday, Biden told supporters in Philadelphia: “You know who [Trump’s] meeting with today, down in Mar-a-Lago? Orbán of Hungary, who stated flatly he doesn’t think democracy works and is looking for dictatorship.”
Trump has said he will be a dictator on “day one” if he defeats Biden.
On Monday, the CNN national security analyst Jim Sciutto reported the views of former advisers who say Trump wants to be an authoritarian leader.
“He views himself as a big guy,” John Bolton, Trump’s third national security adviser, told Sciutto. “He likes dealing with other big guys, and big guys … get to put people in jail and you don’t have to ask anybody’s permission. He kind of likes that.”
