BUDAPEST(National times)- Hungary will ensure Russian President Vladimir Putin can safely enter and leave the country for his planned summit with US President Donald Trump in Budapest, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Friday (Oct 17). Trump agreed on Thursday to hold a second summit with Putin in the Hungarian capital within two weeks to discuss the war in Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said preparations were \u201cgoing full steam ahead\u201d after speaking with both leaders. The meeting would mark Putin\u2019s first visit to an EU member state since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for his arrest over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, a move Moscow has rejected as politically motivated. Hungary, which is in the process of withdrawing from the ICC, has signalled it will not act on the warrant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PUTIN NOT UNDER EU TRAVEL BAN<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An EU spokesperson said the bloc would welcome any talks that could help bring peace to Ukraine, noting that while Putin is under an asset freeze, he is not subject to a travel ban. However, an EU-wide flight ban on Russian aircraft imposed after Moscow\u2019s 2022 invasion could complicate logistics, said Ian Petchenik, communications director at flight-tracking website Flightradar24. \u201cA decision will need to be made at either the EU level or the national level to allow a flight if that is where they\u2019re going to meet,\u201d he said. Petchenik noted that the shortest route into Hungary would pass over Poland and Slovakia, while a longer route could come via the Black Sea and Romania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HUNGARY ASSERTS SOVEREIGNTY<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Szijjarto said Budapest would not consult other nations about the visit. \u201cWe will ensure that he enters Hungary, has successful negotiations here, and then returns home,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cThere is no need for any kind of consultation with anyone \u2014 we are a sovereign country. We will receive him with respect, host him, and provide the conditions for him to negotiate with the American president.\u201d Orban, a long-time Trump ally who has maintained close ties with Moscow, said the summit \u201cwill be about peace,\u201d adding that a deal could \u201cusher in a new phase of economic development in Hungary and Europe.\u201d He said the meeting could take place within the next two weeks, depending on the outcome of a planned meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ZELENSKYY \u201cREALISTIC\u201d AFTER WHITE HOUSE MEETING<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Trump at the White House, where the two discussed air defence needs, including Kyiv\u2019s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles. However, no deal was reached, and when asked if he was now more or less optimistic about receiving the weapons, Zelenskyy said: \u201cI am realistic.\u201d Relations between Budapest and Kyiv remain fraught. Zelenskyy last month accused Hungary of flying drones into Ukrainian territory, prompting Orban to retort that Ukraine \u201cwas not an independent sovereign state.\u201d Hungary has also remained reliant on Russian oil and gas supplies, even as the EU seeks to phase them out by 2028. Orban has accused Brussels of taking a \u201cpro-war stance\u201d and urged Europe to open its own diplomatic channels with Russia ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BUDAPEST(National times)- Hungary will ensure Russian President Vladimir Putin can safely enter and leave the country for his planned summit with US President Donald Trump in Budapest, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Friday (Oct 17). Trump agreed on Thursday to hold a second summit with Putin in the Hungarian capital within two weeks to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n