Reference News Network reported on October 18 According to a Reuters report on October 17, Hungarian Foreign Minister Sijardo Peter said on the 17th that Hungary will ensure that Russian President Vladimir Putin can enter the country, hold a US-Russia summit with US President Trump in Budapest, and return safely after the meeting.

The picture shows Hungarian Foreign Minister Sijardo Peter (data map)

Trump agreed to hold the second summit on the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Hungarian capital on the 16th, and said that the meeting may be held in the next two weeks. Hungarian Prime Minister Orban had a phone call with Trump on the 16th and communicated with Putin on the 17th, saying that the preparations for the meeting were "advancing at full speed".

The choice of Budapest as the venue for the summit attracted attention from all parties. Putin faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, while Hungary is withdrawing from the court. Moscow denied the International Criminal Court's allegations, saying the arrest warrant was a clear demonstration of Western hostility towards Russia.

A EU spokesman said on Thursday that the proposed summit would help to peace in Ukraine and the EU welcomed it, adding that Putin was not restricted by a travel ban, although assets were frozen by the EU.

Jan Pechennik, director of communications at the flight-tracking platform 24-Hour Flight Radar website, pointed out that Putin still has to deal with the EU's flight ban on Russian aircraft-which was promulgated by Brussels after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022.

He said: ¡°If the meeting¡¯s venue is determined in Hungary, it will require a decision to be made at the EU or national level.¡±

According to Pechenick's analysis, the shortest route to Hungary needs to fly over the airspace of Poland and Slovakia, while the longer route is from the Black Sea to enter EU airspace via Romania.

airlive reports referring to Putin's special flight circumference route

He said: "We will ensure that he enters Hungary smoothly, negotiates successfully and returns safely."

He pointed out: "We are a sovereign country, so we don't need to consult with anyone. We will receive (Putin) with respect, entertain him, and provide conditions for him to negotiate with the president of the United States." (Compiled by/Yang Xuelei)

Extended reading

Putin calls Trump, talks for 2.5 hours, meets Budapest

Both sides expressed their willingness to engage in dialogue, but the core differences have not been resolved, and the actual impact of the meeting on the course of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict remains to be observed.

According to Xinhua News Agency, U.S. President Trump posted on social media on the 16th that he had a long phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin that day, mainly discussing issues such as ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict and U.S.-Russia trade. The two sides will meet in Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Hold a face-to-face meeting. Russian Presidential Assistant Ushakov confirmed the news, and Hungary also indicated that it was making preparations for the US-Russian presidential meeting.

Experts believe that the United States and Russia have released a willingness to engage in dialogue, but the core differences have not been resolved, and the actual impact of the meeting on the course of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict remains to be observed.

Call details announced

Trump's telephone conversation with Putin on the 16th was nearly two months after the last call between the two sides. Trump wrote on social media that the call was "fruitful" and "great progress has been made". The two sides agreed to hold a high-level meeting between the United States and Russia next week. The U.S. delegation will be led by Secretary of State Rubio, and the venue of the meeting will be determined. After the high-level meeting, the presidents of the United States and Russia will meet in Budapest to discuss how to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

On August 15th, US President Trump (back right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (back left) attended a joint press conference after their meeting in Alaska, USA (Source: Xinhua News Agency)

Russian Presidential Assistant ushakov later confirmed that Trump proposed to hold a meeting between the leaders of the two countries in Budapest, Hungary, and Putin expressed his support. Russia and the United States will immediately start preparations for the meeting and continue to communicate on the possible date of the meeting.

Ussakov said that the call was initiated by Russia and lasted 2.5 hours.In the call, Trump repeatedly stressed that the conflict should be ended as soon as possible.Putin reiterated that if the United States provided Ukraine with "war-ax" missiles, it would not change the situation on the battlefield, but it would be very dangerous for Russian-American relations and the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

Both sides have their own considerations

Professor Zhang Jianbin of the Center for American Studies at the University of Fudan believes that Russia initially proposed the meeting and clearly intended to send a "diplomatic face" to Trump in exchange for opportunities for dialogue, which is very in line with Trump's diplomatic preferences.

Zhang Jiadong said that when choosing to meet at this time, both the United States and Russia have multiple considerations. As far as Russia is concerned, on the one hand, the West is continuing to low-key and increase sanctions on Russia, pressuring India and other countries to reduce imports of Russian oil, gradually putting pressure on the Russian economy; on the other hand, although Russia publicly claims that the "Tomahawk" missile will not change the war situation, Internal assessment results show that such long-range weapons pose a substantial threat to Russia. As far as the United States is concerned, the recent short-term diplomatic results on the Middle East issue have injected confidence into the Trump administration and hopes to take advantage of the momentum to achieve breakthroughs on the Russia-Ukraine issue.

U.S. Navy ship launches a ¡°war-ax¡± missile in the Mediterranean Sea (photo: Xinhua)

Zhang noted that the location of the meeting is very symbolic in Hungary.Hungary is both a member of NATO and a pro-Russian position within the EU, this "intermediate status" allows both the US and Russia to accept, and the geographic location is also easy for Putin to travel, reducing political and security risks.

Zheng Yu, a scholar at the Russian Research Center at the University of Washington, said that Russia recently released a series of relatively friendly signals to the United States, showing a willingness to dialogue.And Trump's previous tough gestures against Russia did not the expected effect, and even failed to cause a positive response from Russia, so it is also necessary to adjust the strategy to ease the impasse through friendly statements.

Effectiveness to be observed.

Trump and Putin held their first face-to-face meeting in more than four years in Alaska on August 15, but no agreement was reached, and the Russia-Ukraine ceasefire negotiations remained deadlocked. And what impact will the upcoming Budapest meeting have on the Russia-Ukraine conflict?

Zheng Runyu believes that the high-level dialogue between Russia and the United States is a crucial step for the direction of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, holding a meeting without resolution of core differences and insufficient preliminary preparations is more symbolic than a substantive breakthrough. "From the perspective of attracting attention and creating public opinion effects, this kind of 'reality show'-style diplomatic engagement is undoubtedly successful, and this is what Trump is good at. Although such operations can create topics in the short term, they are still of limited help to solve major substantive issues."

Zhang said that if the meeting went smoothly, Trump would likely try to replicate the U.S. diplomatic model in the Middle East, pushing for a ceasefire framework through high pressure and multi-party talks.Putin¡¯s recent releases also indicate that Russia may tend to look for a more decent exit rather than unlimited consumption.

On the other hand, the meeting could shift the situation in a direction favorable to Russia, potentially deepening the differences within NATO over Ukraine.If the meeting goes well, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict may shift from a lasting war to a ¡°negotiation+conflict¡± complex.