Trump Reportedly Calls Hungarian PM Orban to Persuade Support for Ukraine’s EU Membership

US President Donald Trump reportedly called Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban following talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders about Hungary’s continued opposition to Ukraine’s European Union membership, according to a Bloomberg report on August 20.

According to people familiar with the matter, the call came from discussions at the White House focused on ways to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. During those talks, European leaders asked Trump to use his influence to persuade Orban, a right-wing populist and close ally of the US president, to drop his opposition to Kyiv’s EU bid.

Ukraine has long sought to join the bloc as part of a broader package of security guarantees aimed at deterring further Russian territorial advances if a ceasefire is reached. On the call, Hungary also reportedly expressed interest in hosting a future round of talks between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy, according to Bloomberg.

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Following these discussions, Trump announced he is pursuing a leader-level summit between Russia and Ukraine, to be followed by a trilateral meeting that would include him. The timing and location of those meetings remain unclear.

Orban, a right-wing populist, has frequently clashed with the EU, steering Hungary toward authoritarian governance while providing Russia diplomatic cover and blocking certain EU sanctions. He has also obstructed aid to Ukraine, Bloomberg writes.

Orban did not confirm the call. On Tuesday, he posted on Facebook that Ukraine’s EU membership “does not provide any security guarantees” and described linking membership with security assurances as “unnecessary and dangerous.”

The call came after hours of discussions in Washington between Trump, Zelenskyy, and a half-dozen European leaders who convened to push for a coordinated approach to the peace process, following Trump’s own meeting with Putin in Alaska last week. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to confirm whether Budapest is being considered as the venue for a potential Putin-Zelenskiy summit, noting that multiple locations remain under consideration.

Previously, it was reported that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has publicly voted against Ukraine’s accession to the European Union as part of a nationwide consultation launched by his government.

The Hungarian government has been conducting a public survey on several European policy issues, including the future of Ukraine in the bloc.

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