Putin speaks with Orban – Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a phone call with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced on Friday. The call comes ahead of a planned summit between Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, in Budapest.
The Kremlin’s press service noted that during the call, the Hungarian leader expressed a willingness to provide all the conditions for hosting the proposed Russia-US summit in Budapest.
Putin informed Orban about his recent conversation with Trump in which they discussed a roadmap towards a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine conflict, “with a view to holding a Russian-American summit in the Hungarian capital.”
Orban has confirmed the call with Putin in a post on Facebook, announcing that preparations for the summit are “in full swing.”
Peskov suggested that the event could take place during the next two weeks or slightly later.
He stated that Hungary “commands the respect” of both Putin and Trump, given its “unique position in terms of its sovereignty and in defending its interests” while being a member of both NATO and the EU.
Thursday's call between Putin and Trump was their first in nearly two months. The two last met in mid-August in Alaska to discuss the Ukraine conflict and the restoration of Russia-US relations, their first face-to-face meeting since 2019.
