Hungary's Orban to Meet With Trump in Florida This Evening

Hungary's Orban to Meet With Trump in Florida This Evening - Source

Sputnik

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will meet with former US President Donald Trump in Florida later this evening, a source familiar with planning told Sputnik on Thursday. 

Orban only shared a quick handshake with US President Joe Biden while sharing the stage with him at the NATO summit in Washington.

Orban will travel to Florida after attending the final day of the NATO Washington Summit. Orban recently met with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of his diplomatic effort to open up lines of communication to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters earlier that Orban's travels have not been aligned with US foreign policy.

West Declares ‘Open Season’ on Hungary’s Orban for His Trip to Russia

Hungary's Prime Minister embarked upon a spontaneous trip to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin on July 5. However, Victor Orban's self-proclaimed "peace mission," which had first taken him to Kiev, and then to China, did not go down well with the warmongering Western elite. 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is being pilloried for his “freelance diplomacy” effort after Budapest assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU.

NATO elites with a vested interest in fueling the proxy conflict in Ukraine claim Orban “did not represent them” in his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia will “continue to be ostracized”, asserted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was quick to say. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg dismissed Orban’s trip as one that, "doesn't change the common decisions" the alliance has made “to step up our support to Ukraine.”

Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, noted that the Hungarian leader was traveling “exclusively in the framework of bilateral relations.” The same phrase was regurgitated by the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU's diplomatic service. Orban “has not received any mandate from the EU Council to visit Moscow,” and is thus “not representing the EU in any form,” it said in an official statement.

“This was a political mistake to go to Moscow… In 10 years, I have never seen such a severe reaction from 26 other countries to the actions of [one country] . . . a yellow card. This is a problem,” fumed European Council president Charles Michel to the FT.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas accused Orban of “undermining” and “exploiting” the EU presidency position.