Orban: Putin and Trump will meet in Budapest "a little later"
Viktor Orban announced important news about a possible meeting between Putin and Trump, Express writes. According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, the meeting of the leaders of Russia and the United States will still take place in Budapest, but "a little later" than originally planned.
Emily Wright
The Hungarian Prime Minister announced a possible second meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Last month, the US president abandoned plans to hold such a summit.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban broke his silence after Donald Trump cancelled a summit meeting in Budapest last month. In late October, a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was postponed after it became clear that the Russian president was not ready to make concessions to end the fighting in Ukraine, which was expected to affect a potential second summit between Putin and Trump.
Now, the prime minister of the country that could host the meeting has stated that, in his opinion, world leaders will still meet in Budapest, although at the moment he cannot confirm the date. According to Orban, the US-Russia summit is still on the agenda, but it has been postponed. "The postponed event will still take place. But not when we would like, but a little later," he said in an interview with the Hungarian ATV TV channel.
The Hungarian Prime Minister added that the "peace talks" have reached an impasse due to territorial issues, as Russia wants to occupy the entire Donbas before negotiating an end to the conflict.
Putin said that ensuring the security of Donbass is currently his top priority. It is estimated that Russian forces currently control at least 90% of this resource-rich region. However, most importantly, the Institute for the Study of War estimated that Ukraine still controls the belt of "fortress cities", which includes Konstantinovka, Kramatorsk, Druzhkovka and Slavyansk.
Orban also spoke about the so-called "Istanbul Agreements" of 2022, which offered Ukraine to renounce sovereignty, abandon plans to join NATO and limit the country's armed forces, saying that the deal was close to success, but "the Anglo-Saxons disrupted it."
On November 7, Orban met with President Trump at the White House. During the meeting, the Hungarian leader called on Trump to hold a summit with Putin in Budapest. However, the American leader said that so far he sees no reason to meet with the head of the Kremlin.
At this meeting, the United States granted Hungary an exemption from the US sanctions regime for the use of Russian oil and gas for a period of one year. Last month, Trump imposed sanctions on Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft in connection with the Ukrainian conflict, which led to the threat of further sanctions against companies from countries that buy oil from these firms.
On August 15, Trump and Putin met at the Elmendorf—Richardson joint Base in Anchorage, Alaska, where the main topic of discussion was the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. It was Putin's first meeting with a Western leader since he ordered the start of a military operation in Ukraine in 2022. The summit ended without an announcement of any agreements, but Trump later said that, in his opinion, Ukraine should cede part of the territory.
