Hungary sees a potential return of former US president Donald Trump as a “chance for peace” in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Wednesday as a Nato summit began with most allies hoping to send a firm message of support for Kyiv.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Moscow last week on what he called a peace mission, but the initiative angered some of Budapest’s fellow Nato allies, who said the trip handed legitimacy to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims to Ukrainian territory seized since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
The meeting of Nato leaders takes place in Washington as US President Joe Biden is under pressure after a disastrous June 27 debate that boosted Trump in the polls ahead of a November 5 election and raised concerns among allies about how the Republican candidate would approach the alliance and the war in Ukraine.
In an interview with Reuters in Washington, Szijjarto said Hungary’s aim was to bring an end to the war through peace talks involving both Russia and Ukraine. “I think a very strong external impact must take place in order to make them negotiate at least,” Szijjarto said. “Who has the chance for that in the upcoming period? That’s only President Trump if he is elected.”
Orban’s recent meetings with both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had demonstrated the vast distance separating the two sides, and other Western leaders were unwilling or unable to bring them together, he said.
Trump has said he would quickly end the war. He has not offered a detailed plan to achieve that, but Reuters reported last month that advisers to the former president had presented him with a plan to end the war in part by conditioning any future aid to Kyiv on Ukraine joining peace talks.
“We see a chance for peace if President Trump is winning. We see a chance for good Hungary-US relationships if President Trump is winning,” he said.
Peter Szijjarto
