Orban: Trump will not give a penny to Ukraine war

DONDALD TRUMP won’t give “another penny” to Ukraine if he wins the US presidential election, Hungary’s leader has said after talks with the Republican candidate.

Viktor Orbán, who has argued against sanctions on Russia and delayed about €50 billion (£42.7 billion) in EU aid to Kyiv, met Mr Trump in Florida and backed him to return to the White House.

“He will not give a penny in the Ukraine-russia war. That is why the war will end,” the conservative prime minister of Hungary, a Nato and EU member state, said.

In a breach of usual practice for a visiting leader, Mr Orbán did not meet Joe Biden, the US president, whom Budapest views as an unfriendly critic of the autocratic Hungarian leader.

Mr Biden has struggled to get more aid for Ukraine passed by Republicans, who are blocking a $60 billion (£46.9 billion) package in Congress.

That has exacerbated European fears about the future of US financial support for Ukraine if Mr Trump wins in November.

“It is obvious that Ukraine cannot stand on its own feet,” Mr Orbán, who has regularly called for an immediate ceasefire, told Hungary’s state broadcaster on Sunday.

“If the Americans don’t give money and weapons, along with the Europeans, then the war is over.

“And if the Americans don’t give money, the Europeans alone are unable to finance this war. And then the war is over.”

The US is the country which has given the most support to Ukraine – the equivalent of £58.6 billion – followed by Germany and the UK. The European Union as a whole has committed about £72.6 billion.