Trump explains why he canceled the summit with Putin, but leaves open the possibility of a meeting in Budapest: “There is a very good chance”

US President Donald Trump said on Friday, when he welcomed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to the White House, that “there is always a chance” to meet with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, reports Sky News and The Guardian.

Asked by a reporter about the chances of meeting Vladimir Putin in Budapest at some point, Trump said after welcoming Orban outside the West Wing of the White House: “There's always a chance, a very good chance.”

Trump and Putin appeared determined to meet in Hungary after their October phone call, but the US president canceled the meeting, apparently because he doubted it could lead to progress on a peace deal with Ukraine.

Also then, asked if Hungary should be allowed to buy Russian oil, Trump pointed to his longtime ally Viktor Orban and simply said: “A very good leader.”

Orban: Ukraine's victory would be “a miracle”

Later, in the joint press conference, Donald Trump told reporters that he believes Viktor Orban understands Vladimir Putin and “knows him very well.”

The Hungarian prime minister is considered Putin's closest partner in Europe.

“I think Viktor feels we're going to end this war in the not-too-distant future,” Trump said.

Orban added that he is “strongly convinced” of this and stressed that the question is whether Westerners are “united or not”.

“The problem is that the president (Trump) is making huge efforts, which are simply splendid and positive for the European continent and for all the people of Europe,” the Hungarian prime minister continued.

“But at the same time, we are not united because Brussels and the Europeans have a different approach to war. So the only pro-peace governments are the United States government and little Hungary in Europe,” Orban claimed.

He then stated that “all other governments prefer to continue the war” because many of them believe that Ukraine can win.

Trump reacted and asked the Hungarian leader if he is convinced that Ukraine cannot win the war.

“You know, a miracle can happen,” Orban replied. “Yes, it is,” Trump then responded with a slight smile.

Trump's explanation: “Russia doesn't want to stop yet”

Donald Trump was also asked, in the joint press conference with Viktor Orban, why the Budapest summit with Vladimir Putin will no longer take place.

“The basic contention is that they (the Russians, no) just don't want to stop yet,” the US president said.

“I think they will (stop, no), I think this has a negative impact on Russia, a negative impact on both countries, obviously,” he continued.

Trump reiterated that, in his opinion, Russia's invasion of Ukraine would never have happened if he had been president, and says it happened “under (the administration, no) Biden.”

Viktor Orban made it clear that he agreed with the US president and added that “there is no doubt” that if Trump had been the US president, “there would have been no war”.

Then asked if he still wanted to travel to Budapest for a summit with Putin, Trump said that he “would love” to have this meeting in the Hungarian capital.

“I'd like him to stay in Hungary, in Budapest. In the end, I decided I didn't want to attend that meeting because I didn't think anything important was going to happen. But if we're going to have it, I'd like it to be in Budapest,” Trump said.

The US president said he and Orban “agree that the war will end”, and Orban told reporters he had “a few ideas” about how that might happen.

He added that he would later present them to Trump during their face-to-face meeting.