Hungary Prepares for Trump-Putin Meeting
Photo: Valeriy Sharifulin/Sputnik/Kreml pool via AP/TT

Hungary Prepares for Trump-Putin Meeting Despite ICC Obligations

Preparations for the "peace meeting" are underway, says Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The move comes after US President Donald Trump announced that he will meet his Russian counterpart in Hungary – a country bound to arrest Vladimir Putin if he sets foot there.

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Orbán has spoken on the phone with Putin on Friday. After the phone call, the Prime Minister writes on Facebook that "preparations are in full swing" ahead of the meeting.

Orbán, a strong critic of Western military support to Ukraine, is Trump's and Putin's closest ally in the EU.

No date has been specified, but according to Trump, the meeting will "probably" be held within two weeks. It would then be the first time since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that Putin sets foot in a European country.

Bound to arrest Putin

Several questions remain before the meeting can take place, according to the Russian headquarters Kremlin on Friday.

Foreign Minister (Sergej) Lavrov and Foreign Minister (Marco) Rubio will start working on this. There are many questions, negotiating groups must be established and so on, says spokesperson Dmitrij Peskov according to AFP.

Hungary has signed the International Criminal Court's founding document, the Rome Statute, which binds the country to arrest war crimes suspect Putin during a visit. Hungary announced in April this year - in connection with internationally wanted Benjamin Netanyahu's Budapest visit - that they are withdrawing from the ICC, but are de facto still a member until June 2026.

EU support

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto promises safe passage for Putin.

We look forward to welcoming President Vladimir Putin with respect, and we will of course ensure that he can enter Hungary, hold successful talks here and then return home, he says at a press conference on Friday.

At the same time, a spokesperson for the EU Commission announces that they support the Hungary meeting "if it gets the peace process moving forward", reports AFP.

In this story
AuthorTT News AgencyEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for our readers
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