By Anita Komuves and Krisztina Than
BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Hungary will ensure that Russian President Vladimir Putin can enter the country for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump planned in Budapest and return home afterwards, Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Friday.
Trump agreed on Thursday to a second summit on the war in Ukraine to be hosted in the Hungarian capital, saying it may happen in the next two weeks. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban spoke with Trump on Thursday and talked to Putin on Friday, saying preparations “are going full steam ahead.”
The choice of Budapest has raised attention. Putin faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, which Hungary is in the process of leaving. Moscow denies the ICC allegations, calling the warrant evidence of the West’s hostility to Russia.
PUTIN NOT UNDER EU TRAVEL BAN
The EU welcomed the proposed meeting if it could help bring peace in Ukraine, a spokesperson said on Friday, adding Putin was under an asset freeze but not a travel ban by the bloc.
Putin would still need to navigate an EU flight ban on Russian aircraft put in place by Brussels after the 2022 invasion, said Ian Petchenik, a communications director at Flightradar24, a flight-tracking service.
“A decision will need to be made at either the EU level or the national level to allow a flight if that is where they’re going to meet,” he said.
According to Petchenik, the shortest route into Hungary would be flying over Poland and Slovakia, while a much longer route would be from the Black Sea into the EU through Romania.
HUNGARY CALLS ON EUROPE TO OPEN DIPLOMATIC CHANNELS
“We will ensure that he enters Hungary, has successful negotiations here, and then returns home,” Szijjarto told a press briefing.
“There is no need for any kind of consultation with anyone, we are a sovereign country here. We will receive (Putin) with respect, host him, and provide the conditions for him to negotiate with the American president.”
Orban, a long-time Trump ally who has also kept close ties with Russia, said the meeting could take place within the next two weeks if the U.S. and Russian foreign ministers manage to settle remaining issues at a planned meeting next week.
Szijjarto said a date could be discussed after those meetings.
Orban, speaking earlier on state radio, said the meeting “will be about peace” and if there is a peace deal, that would lead to a new phase of economic development in Hungary and Europe.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is due to visit the White House on Friday to push for more military support, including U.S.-made long-range Tomahawk missiles, as the war escalates.
Orban said on Friday Europe should open its own diplomatic channels towards Russia and he again accused the EU of taking what he called a “pro-war stance” over Ukraine.
TENSE RELATIONS WITH UKRAINE
The veteran Hungarian premier has often clashed with other EU leaders over Ukraine, questioning whether the bloc should send military aid to Kyiv.
Ukraine’s relationship with Hungary has grown increasingly tense. Zelenskiy accused Hungarian drones of crossing into Ukraine last month, prompting Orban to retort that Ukraine was not an independent sovereign state.
Hungary has also remained reliant on Russian gas and crude oil deliveries even as the EU seeks to phase out those supplies by 2028 and Trump has urged the bloc to end Russian energy imports.
(Reporting by Krisztina Than and Anita KomuvesWriting by Jason HovetEditing by Christopher Cushing, Gareth Jones and Rod Nickel)
