Robert Fico, the Slovak prime minister and a close ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on the European stage, says he has clear evidence that some factions within Europe are determined to derail the planned Budapest summit between President Trump and President Putin.

Fico: summit should happen ASAP

Fico referred to remarks made yesterday by the Polish foreign minister, in which Warsaw suggested that, under international law, it could seize Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plane if it entered Polish airspace en route to the planned meeting with US President Donald Trump in Budapest. Radosław Sikorski noted that Hungary, as an EU member, can be reached from Russia via the airspace of Turkey, Montenegro and Serbia

Robert Fico Slovak prime minister
Photo: FB/Robert Fico

According to Fico, the EU has effectively become a “war cabinet”, with a significant number of member states backing the conflict in Ukraine under the naïve belief that this will weaken or even defeat Russia. He added that the EU does not want peace in Ukraine and stressed that the Trump–Putin summit should take place as soon as possible.

FM Szijjártó: Hungary ready to host US-Russia peace summit

Hungary remains prepared to host a US–Russia peace summit, calling it the only viable path to resolving the war in Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told CNN in Washington on Tuesday. A statement from his ministry welcomed the recent communication between the US and Russian presidents as a hopeful sign of a personal meeting in Budapest, despite uncertainties surrounding the timing.



Szijjártó confirmed Hungary’s readiness to host the summit and emphasised the government’s commitment to peace over the past three and a half years. He pledged to provide all necessary conditions for the event’s success and expressed hope that the summit would go ahead. Regarding any delay, he said that the date had not yet been set and hoped his meeting with his US counterpart, Marco Rubio, on Wednesday would clarify the situation.

Hungary not isolated

Szijjártó said that civilised relations between the United States and Russia have always made the world — including Central Europe — a safer place. The minister acknowledged that many in Europe would be disappointed that Hungary, often seen as internationally isolated, had been chosen to host such a pivotal US–Russia summit — arguably the most important meeting in decades.

FM Péter Szijjártó phone talk
Photo: FB/Szijjártó

He argued that, in reality, the opposite was true: it is not Hungary that is isolated, but the European Union. Szijjártó criticised the EU for playing no meaningful role in resolving the world’s current security crises, which he blamed on the bloc’s pro-war stance.

On the subject of the international arrest warrant for Putin, Szijjártó noted that the Russian president had recently visited the United States without being detained and that, should he come to Hungary, he would not be arrested there either.

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