Hungary's Orban blocks aid for Ukraine

BRUSSELS, Dec 15 (Reuters): Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban vetoed a major European Union aid package for Ukraine on Friday and warned he could still halt Kyiv's accession to the bloc after membership talks won EU approval.

At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, the European Union's 26 other national leaders took the historic step of agreeing to start accession negotiations with a country at war, bypassing Orban's grievances by getting him to leave the room.

But, hours later, they could not overcome resistance from Orban, who maintains close ties to Russia, to a revamp of the bloc's budget to channel 50 billion euros ($55 billion) to Ukraine and provide more cash for other EU priorities such as managing migration.