Hungary's PM Orban urges ‘chance' for US-Russia summit on Ukraine
EU leaders stressed on Tuesday 'the inherent right of Ukraine to choose its own destiny,' just three days before US President Donald Trump meets Russia's President Vladimir Putin.
For the latest updates on the Russia-Ukraine war, visit our dedicated page.
Orban said the 'only sensible action' for EU leaders was 'to initiate an EU-Russia summit, based on the example of the US-Russia meeting.'
'Let's give peace a chance!' he said on X, describing the Trump-Putin summit as 'historic.'
The EU leaders' 'statement attempts to set conditions for a meeting to which leaders of the EU were not invited,' Orban said.
'The fact that the EU was left on the sidelines is sad enough as it is. The only thing that could make things worse is if we started providing instructions from the bench,' he added.
Orban -- a close ally of the Kremlin -- regularly breaks EU unity on Ukraine, to which he has refused to send arms since Russia invaded in 2022.
Orban is also a Trump ally, describing the Republican president as a 'dear friend.'
Trump in a press conference on Monday, in turn, described Orban as 'a very, very smart man,' saying he asked him whether he thinks Ukraine can defeat Russia.
'He looked at me like what a stupid question. He said Russia is a massive country and they win their country, they win their lives through wars,' Trump added.
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