"Frustrated Trump opponents meet in Paris": Hungary attacks European Ukraine supporters before crisis meeting

Tagesspiegel "Frustrated Trump opponents meet in Paris": Hungary attacks European Ukraine supporters before crisis meeting 3 hours • 2 minutes reading time The Ukraine summit in Paris is a gathering of "frustrated warmongers," criticizes Hungary's Foreign Minister Szijjarto. Macron will receive the European heads of government on Monday. Symbolic image: Viktor Orbán in Budapest on April 6, 2022. The Hungarian government has sharply criticized the meeting of top European politicians, which is scheduled to discuss a response to the changed stance of the new US administration under President Donald Trump on the war in Ukraine on Monday afternoon. It is a meeting of "frustrated, pro-war and anti-Trump" top European politicians with the aim of preventing "a peace agreement in Ukraine," Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told journalists in Kazakhstan on Monday. "Unlike them, we support Donald Trump's aspirations. Unlike them, we support the negotiations between Russia and the US," Szijjarto added at the press conference, which was broadcast on his Facebook account. Orban is one of Russia's allies The European states want to coordinate their positions in Paris after Trump's move on Ukraine. According to the Elysée Palace, French President Emmanuel Macron is receiving the heads of government of Germany, Great Britain, Poland and Italy, among others. NATO chief Marc Rutte and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are also expected. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is one of the Kremlin's few allies in the EU. He has repeatedly called for peace talks since the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine in February 2022 and has refused to send military aid to Ukraine. In July, he drew sharp criticism from EU partners with a self-declared "peace mission" and a visit to President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Since Trump's return to the White House, Orban has felt vindicated in his position and regretted the "impotence" of the EU, which was not invited to the negotiations between the USA and Russia. Last week, Trump agreed with Putin to start negotiations on the future of Ukraine "immediately". On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is scheduled to meet with his US counterpart Marco Rubio in Riyadh.