Hungary’s Orbán pushes back on EU and NATO proposals to further assist Ukraine

By JUSTIN SPIKE
Associated Press

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is pushing back against some NATO proposals that would allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike targets within Russia. Orbán said in a radio interview on Friday that such proposals have Europe “inching closer to destruction.” The nationalist leader has long opposed Western countries supplying Ukraine with military aid. He also threatened to derail European Union financial support to Kyiv and the passing of sanctions against Moscow. He said Friday that suggestions that France could send troops to Ukraine and that NATO may allow Kyiv to strike military bases inside Russia with long-range weapons provided by Western partners risked escalating the war into a global conflict.