Thermal anxiety: Orbán meets Trump amid Ukraine turmoil

Hungarian President Viktor Orbán will meet with presidential candidate Donald Trump in the USA on Thursday. The politician will visit Trump's residence in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. The talks will be informal.

This is another unexpected move by the Hungarian leader. As noted by "Time", this visit will likely raise concerns that the Hungarian leader is acting as an intermediary between Putin and Trump.

Last week marked the beginning of a series of unusual political world trips by Orbán since the outbreak of the Ukraine war. He visited President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, then went to Moscow to talk to Vladimir Putin, and later, he met Xi Jinping in Beijing.

Trump and Putin have had a cordial relationship since the Republican leader’s first term. This meeting may be linked to Trump’s declaration concerning his ideas for ending the war in Ukraine.

The presidential candidate said that he could convince Putin to end the war in Ukraine and free the Americans held in Russia if he were to be elected for a second term. He claimed it would take him just one day.

The Hungarian politician's political activity, undertaken since Budapest took over the presidency of the European Union at the beginning of July, has embarrassed the Western community. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on CBS News’s Face the Nation programme on Sunday that Orbán "made it clear when he came to Moscow that he didn't go there on behalf of NATO, different NATO allies interact with Moscow in different ways."

As commented by "Rzeczpospolita", such talks, like those held by the Hungarian leader under the current circumstances, may indicate an intention for Ukraine to permanently lose control over parts of the country occupied by Russia. During his visit to Kyiv, Orbán suggested a ceasefire to the Ukrainian authorities.