Viktor Orban, the Hungarian prime minister, has identified the U.S. as one of his country’s top adversaries after public disagreements over sanctions against Russia, according to leaked Pentagon documents.

The Wall Street Journal cited a 2 March CIA intelligence update that said Orban included Washington in his list of top adversaries during a 22 February political strategy meeting. The paper said it could not independently confirm the documents.

The CIA said Orban’s decision to add the U.S. to its list “constitutes an escalation of the level of anti-American rhetoric in his discourse.” 

NBC News reported that Hungary has refused to follow the West blindly against Russia and even slowed Finland’s admission to NATO. 

Hungary is also holding up Sweden’s membership. The report also noted that Hungary is a member of the European Union, but has just reached a new deal with Russia on gas imports. Budapest has also criticized the West’s united front against China. (The EU has called Hungary “a hybrid regime of electoral autocracy.”)

Sources told RFE/RL’s Hungarian Service that Orban’s allies could face new sanctions from the U.S. over allegations of corruption, which could increase animosity between Washington and Budapest. 

Orban’s allies, including current and former officials, could soon face fresh U.S. sanctions for alleged corruption, which would be seen as the latest hit to the relationship.

Orban seemed intent on cooling the tension with the U.S. during an interview on Friday. He said the U.S. is a NATO ally and top trading partner. (See “ORBAN WINS EASILY DESPITE ZELENSKY’S PUBLIC CONDEMNATION” 5 Apr 2022, “HUNGARY BLOCKS €18 BILLION PACKAGE FOR UKRAINE, GETS COVID RELIEF FUNDS BLOCKED” 13 Dec 2022 and “HUNGARY CALLS FOR CEASEFIRE IN UKRAINE: ‘IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID’” 28 Jun 2022.)

“We have good relations with the Americans,” he said, according to The Associated Press. “The United States is our friend and an important ally as well.”

Orban said he never agreed with the U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia, but “we don’t dispute anyone’s right, including that of the United States, to impose sanctions if they see fit.”

He also said Friday that the Ukraine War would come to a swift end if the U.S. simply stopped underwriting Kyiv’s economy and war effort. 

“Ukraine is a non-existent country in financial terms,” he said. “The fall in economic indicators is huge, which is completely understandable…. Obviously, Ukraine cannot finance itself. The question is whether we support Ukraine.”

He said the West simply cannot bankroll the country forever and eventually negotiations will have to begin.

TRENDPOST: We have long noted that Ukraine is completely outmatched by Russian firepower and is only alive today thanks to the billions in “lethal weapons” delivered to Ukraine by the U.S. and NATO.  But despite being backed into the corner, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tries to present himself as though he is coming from a position of strength.

The West is providing Kyiv with just enough weapons and funding to keep the war dragging on. (See “U.K. SEES BIGGEST DECLINE IN LIVING STANDARDS EVER AS WARMONGERS KEEPS PUMPING UKRAINE WITH WEAPONS AND MONEY” 21 Mar 2023, “FRANCE, U.K. VOW WEAPONS SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE SO KYIV ‘WINS’” 14 Mar 2023 and “U.S. AT WAR WITH RUSSIA: WASHINGTON ANNOUNCES ANOTHER $2 BILLION IN WEAPONS OF DEATH FOR UKRAINE” 28 Feb 2023.)

Any country that doesn’t swallow Washington’s bullshit on the war is considered disloyal and a “Putin puppet.”

The Biden administration has been clear that its main goal is to keep a united front against Russia, no matter how much the people have to sacrifice… as proven by the sanctions imposed on Russia which have spiked inflation across Europe.