Donald Trump won’t wait until being inaugurated in January to "manage a peace" in Ukraine if he wins next month’s U.S. presidential election, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a news conference in Strasbourg on Oct. 8.
Speaking to reporters, Orban did not shy away from naming his preferred candidate in the elections.
"We will open several bottles of champagne if Trump is back," he said.
Orban, a long-standing ally of Trump, is also widely regarded as a key ally of Russia in the EU.
Orban has repeatedly blocked aid to Ukraine, pushed for negotiations, and frequently spouted Kremlin talking points. Hungary has also condemned the war but has refused to supply Ukraine with weapons.
In July, he embarked on a "peace tour" and met with Russian President Putin, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and Trump.
Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly claimed he could end Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 24 hours.
During the presidential debate on Sept. 10, the former president reiterated earlier statements that his primary concern was ending the war but once again refrained from providing any concrete details, despite previously being asked by President Volodymyr Zelensky to do so.
"He will not wait until the inauguration ceremony … in order to manage a peace," Orban said.
"(He) will act immediately, so we as European leaders don’t have any time to waste, because there would not be two or three months, as we usually have, between the election and the inauguration of the new president.
"We have to react first intellectually, philosophically, then strategically, and then at the level of action as soon as possible."
Orban, in power since 2010, said earlier this year that "God has plans (for Trump)" to advance peace, referring to Trump’s survival of an assassination attempt in July.
Orban arrived in Strasbourg on Tuesday, and is scheduled to address the European Parliament’s plenary meeting on Oct. 9.
James Beardsworth
