The leaders of Russia and the United States are set to meet in Budapest on an as yet undisclosed date for negotiations to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
Hungary will ensure Russian President Vladimir Putin can enter and leave the country for a summit with U.S. President Donald Trump planned in Budapest despite his outstanding International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Friday.
“We will ensure that he enters Hungary, has successful negotiations here, and then returns home,” Szijjarto said.
“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.”
Hungary is currently a member of the ICC, but is in the midst of a year-long process of withdrawing from the organization, after its parliament approved a bill to leave on May 20, which held that the court had become politicized.
Earlier this year, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also has an ICC warrant out for his arrest.
Neither the United States nor Russia recognizes the ICC’s jurisdiction.
Trump agreed to a second summit with Putin on the war in Ukraine to be hosted in Budapest, saying it could happen within the next two weeks.
He said in a Truth Social post on Thursday that he had concluded “a very productive” call with Putin.
“At the conclusion of the call, we agreed that there will be a meeting of our High Level Advisors, next week,” Trump said, noting that the initial meetings will be led by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials to be named.
A meeting venue has yet to be determined.
“President Putin and I will then meet in an agreed upon location, Budapest, Hungary, to see if we can bring this ‘inglorious’ War, between Russia and Ukraine, to an end,” Trump wrote.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Rubio would need to call each other and set up a meeting to sort out pre-summit issues.
“First, they will have a phone conversation and meet, and hold discussions on the topic, begin to discuss all issues,” he told Russian state news agency TASS.
“There are a lot of issues—it is necessary to determine negotiating teams. Everything will be in stages.”
By Guy Birchall
