What Surprise Orbán is Preparing for Ukraine: Media

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has developed a plan for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on how to abandon aid to Ukraine. This was reported by Politico.

“Orbán has thought of a way that, if Trump is successfully elected in November, it will allow him to withdraw from the $50 billion loan that the United States, European Union, and G7 leaders have offered to Ukraine,” the publication states.

The article notes that this will enable the American politician to tell Republican voters that, if elected, he will no longer give a cent to Kyiv.

The publication further reports that if Brussels and Washington provide joint financing, Trump will be forced to service that debt for many years. However, if it is confirmed without U.S. participation, Trump will not have such obligations.

According to the G7 agreement, the entire $50 billion amount must be repaid from profits generated from frozen Russian assets, most of which are held in the EU. The White House initially conditioned its participation in the project on changes to the EU’s sanctions regime, demanding that Russian assets in Europe remain frozen for at least three years. Later, Hungary vetoed the proposal and insisted that sanctions be extended every six months.

This led the European Commission to propose an alternative program to draw up to €35 billion from the alliance's common budget, a solution that requires the support of the majority of EU member states. If the U.S. joins the program, the amount paid by the EU could decrease.

According to Western officials, the U.S. government is discussing various amounts, including the possibility of a $5 billion investment, which is equivalent to the Russian assets frozen in the U.S.