by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
BRUSSELS/MOSCOW/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – The European Union’s foreign-policy chief has voiced disapproval of Hungary’s decision to host Russian President Vladimir Putin despite his international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
Kaja Kallas said Monday it was “not nice” that Putin might travel to EU member Hungary for talks with U.S. President Donald J. Trump on ending the war in Ukraine. Trump announced last week that he would soon meet Putin in Budapest after speaking with the Russian leader by phone.
Putin faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which Hungary is in the process of leaving. Russia denies committing atrocities in Ukraine and rejects the ICC’s jurisdiction. “It’s not nice to see that a person under an ICC warrant is coming to a European country,” Kallas added.
Kallas also told reporters before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg that while Washington’s efforts to pressure Moscow toward peace were welcome, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should be directly involved. “America has a lot of strength to pressure Russia to come to the negotiation table,” she said. “If they use that, this is good if Russia stops this war.”
Sources briefed on last week’s Trump-Zelenskyy talks in Washington said the U.S. president urged Zelenskyy to consider ceding territory to Russia as part of a cease-fire. After the tense meeting, Trump publicly called for a truce along current front lines.
The Kremlin said Putin reiterated to Trump by phone the previous day that Russian forces “have the strategic initiative along the whole front line.”
‘JUST BEGINNING’
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added that preparations for the Budapest summit “are just beginning” and that the talks aim to advance a resolution to the Ukraine conflict and improve U.S.-Russia relations.
The Kremlin confirmed Monday that Budapest was chosen for the summit because Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán maintains “warm relations” with both Trump and Putin. Peskov said this “greatly contributed” to the understanding reached during last week’s phone call between the two leaders that led to the decision to meet in Hungary.
Orbán, a nationalist and conservative leader, has long criticized Western military support for Ukraine and earlier this year claimed Russia had already won the war. Yet several European governments backing Kyiv have called it inappropriate to host Putin in an EU member state.
Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen warned that “within the EU area a war criminal such as Putin should not be welcome.” Lithuania’s top diplomat Kęstutis Budrys added, “The only place for Putin in Europe is The Hague, in front of the tribunal.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Putin’s visit “only makes sense if it leads to an immediate and unconditional cease-fire,” while Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel stressed that “the most important thing is that we have a negotiating table.”
Yet the EU made clear the bloc would not wait for the summit’s outcome before tightening sanctions against Moscow.
Kallas said she expected the EU’s 19th sanctions package against Russia to be adopted this week, including a measure to bring forward a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports to January 2027.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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The European Union’s foreign-policy chief has voiced disapproval of Hungary’s decision to host Russian President Vladimir Putin despite his international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.