US President Donald Trump met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban at the White House. The main topic of the talks was the issue of Budapest’s cessation of purchases of Russian oil. This was reported by the White House press service.
During a press conference following the meeting, Orban said that ministerial-level talks had also taken place in Washington, where all issues that were “important from Hungary” were discussed. He noted that Hungary had received full relief from sanctions on supplies via the “Turkish Stream” gas pipeline and the “Druzhba” oil pipeline. According to him, the parties also reached an agreement in the field of nuclear energy – the American company Westinghouse will join Hungarian nuclear projects, which had not happened before.
The US president expressed concern about the import of Russian energy resources by European countries, but emphasized that Hungary has a “worse situation”, because it is landlocked.
“We are considering this issue because it is very difficult for Orban to obtain oil and gas from other regions. As you know, they do not have the advantage of the sea. Many countries in Europe do not have such problems, and they buy a lot of oil and gas from Russia. We help them, and they buy oil and gas from Russia. Hungary is in a different position, ”, — Donald Trump said.
When asked about a possible meeting with Russian President Putin in Hungary, Trump noted that “there is always a chance to visit Budapest”.
“Orban understands Putin very well, knows him well. And I feel like I’ll let you say what you think. But I think Viktor believes that we will end this war in the not-too-distant future,”, — Donald Trump explained.
Viktor Orban, in turn, noted that other countries in Europe allegedly seek to continue the war, while Hungary is the only one in Europe that advocates peace:
“The problem is that the US president has a huge peace effort that has just stalled. Brussels and the Europeans have a different approach to war. So the only government that advocates peace is the United States government and small Hungary in Europe”.
According to him, the position that Ukraine can win on the battlefield “ is the wrong view of the situation”. When asked whether Ukraine is capable of defeating Russia in a war, Orban replied: “Miracles happen”. The US president supported his position.
Trump clarified that the previously planned meeting with Vladimir Putin in Budapest was canceled because “they don’t want to stop the war”, without explaining who exactly he meant.
“The war is causing great damage to Russia – losses have reached 7 thousand soldiers per week. Also the issue of the economy. We don’t spend money directly – the funding goes through NATO. If I were president, this war wouldn’t be happening, but now we have to end it, ” – Trump emphasized.
He added that he agreed with the need to end Russia’s war against Ukraine “in the near future” and emphasized that he would like to meet with Putin in Budapest.
