Hungary's PM says Europe risks being 'sidelined' if Trump-Putin talks happen

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday that Europe risks being "sidelined" if a summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine takes place.

Speaking to Hungary's state broadcaster, Orbán said "if the Russian-American summit comes, that's good, because there can finally be peace. But the Europeans will be left out of this, we will be sidelined in managing the security issues of our own continent."

Orbán added that "as soon as possible", whether that be before or after the potential Russia-US meeting, there should be a Russian-European summit on the war.

Orbán, a harsh critic of the European Union, suggested that such a meeting should not be led by leaders of European institutions.

"Their knowledge would be scarce in Moscow," he said.

Instead, Orbán said French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz should "negotiate on behalf of Europe."

Orbán is widely considered to be Putin's closest partner in the EU and has maintained friendly relations with the Kremlin even after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"In my opinion, if Europe wants to take the decisions about its future into its own hands, it cannot sit at home like an upset toddler, talking bad about the Russian president," Orbán said.

While most EU countries have offered political, financial, and military support to Kyiv, Hungary has charted a starkly different course, refusing to supply Ukraine with weapons or to allow their transit through Hungarian territory, demanding sanctions relief and rapprochement with Russia.

Brussels has long been at odds with Budapest over perceived democratic backsliding.

The EU is currently withholding approximately €9.5 billion in COVID-19 recovery funding and €8.4 billion in cohesion funds over those concerns.

Brussels and Budapest over the years have been at loggerheads on a range of issues, most recently that of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but the situation has been made worse by the financial issue.

In March, Orbán vowed to rid his country of those he claims work for the interests of foreign powers, saying his right-wing government will eliminate a global "shadow army" serving the European Union and a "liberal American empire."

The Hungarian leader, in power since 2010, has accelerated his longstanding efforts to crack down on critics such as media outlets, civil rights and anti-corruption groups, which he says have undermined Hungary's sovereignty by receiving financial assistance from international donors.

Orbán, an ally of Trump, has applauded the US administration's actions to dismantle the US Agency for International Development, claiming, with no evidence, that it was used to fund liberal causes in Hungary aimed at toppling his government.