Trump asked Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán to support Ukraine's accession to the European Union

The media outlet 'Bloomberg' revealed Tuesday that President Donald Trump held a phone call with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in order to secure his support for Ukraine's accession to the European Union (EU), following several meetings with different European leaders at the White House. According to 'Bloomberg,' several people familiar with the matter who chose not to reveal their identities noted that the talk with Orbán occurred following a request from top European officials that he use all his influence to force the Hungarian leader to drop his opposition to Ukraine's EU membership.

According to the media outlet, the phone conversation between Trump and Orbán occurred on the same day that the Republican leader had another phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin—which lasted about 40 minutes—without the presence of European leaders, including the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. While the media outlet did not specify whether the Hungarian leader accepted Trump's request, Orbán stated on Tuesday via his Facebook account that Ukraine's membership in the European bloc "does not provide any security guarantees" and that, therefore, "linking membership with security guarantees is unnecessary and dangerous." So far, neither Orbán's presidential office nor the White House has commented on the call between the two leaders.

Orbán and Russia

The Hungarian prime minister, who maintains a cordial relationship with Putin despite the Kremlin's decision to invade Ukraine in 2022, which generated an almost unanimous repudiation by the EU, has tried on several occasions to delay or even block attempts by the European bloc to send arms to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, by arguing that this could worsen the armed conflict. Similarly, Orbán has repeatedly opposed executing different types of sanctions against Russia, which has generated numerous criticisms from several European leaders.

The meeting between European officials and Zelensky at the White House took place this Monday, a few days after Trump, along with his special envoy Steve Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, met with Putin last Friday in Alaska.