The European Union has agreed to open membership talks with Ukraine and Moldova. Leaders of 26 EU member states unanimously approved the accession talks Thursday after Hungary’s far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orbán left the room just before votes were cast. Orbán, who is widely viewed as an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had threatened to veto Ukraine’s bid to join the EU. He appeared to back down after European leaders released more than $10 billion worth of aid to Hungary it had withheld after determining Orbán’s nationalist government was failing to uphold the rule of law. Meanwhile, Hungary’s government blocked a European Union financial aid package for Ukraine worth $55 billion. Talks on that package will resume in the new year.