EU supports Trump-Putin meet in Budapest if serves peace

The European Commission said Friday it welcomes a meeting in Budapest between US President Donald Trump and Russia's Vladimir Putin if it can help end the Ukraine war. (AFP/File)

• Spokespeople said that the EU had to be pragmatic and back any steps that might lead to peace
• EU foreign affairs spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said that individual member states can issue derogations to allow travel over their national airspace

BRUSSELS: The European Commission said Friday it welcomes a meeting in Budapest between US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin if it can help end the Ukraine war.
Spokespeople said that the EU had to be pragmatic and back any steps that might lead to peace in Ukraine — even though Putin is wanted under an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.
“We live in the real world,” commission spokesman Olof Gill told reporters.
“Meetings don’t always happen in the precise order or format that we would like them to, but if meetings... move us toward a just and lasting peace for Ukraine, then we should welcome them.”
Hungary, though a member of the EU, is in the process of withdrawing from the ICC under a decision by its prime minister, Viktor Orban, who maintains warm relations with Putin.
In a phone call on Thursday, Putin and Trump floated the idea of meeting in Budapest at a near date to be decided.
Yet for Putin to fly to Budapest he would have to cross the airspace of either Ukraine or other EU countries where the ICC warrant applies.
EU foreign affairs spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said that individual member states can issue derogations to allow travel over their national airspace.
She added that, while Putin was subject to an asset freeze under EU sanctions, he was “not specifically under travel ban.”
The warrant against Putin is for the abduction of Ukrainian children since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022.
Hungary’s withdrawal from the ICC is to take effect in June 2026, and the country technically remains party to the court until then.
Another commission spokesman, Anouar El Anouni, when asked about the weight of the ICC warrant on the mooted Budapest summit, said the EU remains “strongly committed to international criminal justice.”
He noted that, while an ICC withdrawal process was under way, “it has no effect on a state’s duty of cooperation in relation to investigations and proceedings that started prior to that date.”
Orban’s government in April hosted a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is also the target of an ICC arrest warrant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.