Ukraine’s European allies are rallying around Zelenskyy after mixed messages from Trump. The prospect of talks in Budapest leaves the EU uneasy.
News that a highly anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been put on hold will offer some relief to Ukraine’s EU allies, who were left rattled by the prospect of the bloc’s most Russia-friendly member playing host to talks on the future of Europe’s security.
Key summits in Brussels and London later this week could now test Europe’s capacity to deliver as it tries to unlock fresh financial support for Kyiv, and convince Trump to pile more pressure on Moscow.
“Russia’s stalling tactics have shown time and time again that Ukraine is the only party serious about peace. We can all see that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction,” the leaders of Ukraine, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Poland, Finland, Denmark, Spain, Sweden — plus top EU officials — wrote in a statement on Tuesday.
“We must ramp up the pressure on Russia’s economy and its defence industry, until Putin is ready to make peace. We are developing measures to use the full value of Russia’s immobilised sovereign assets so that Ukraine has the resources it needs,” the leaders said.
‘No place for war criminals in Europe?’
EU states often insist Europe must have a seat at the table for talks on Ukraine’s future, but you can bet they weren’t banking on that table being in Budapest.
After all, if the meeting ever goes ahead, they would mark the first time Putin steps foot on EU soil since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine — and since the International Criminal Court indicted him over suspected war crimes.
“The only place for Putin in Europe, that’s in The Hague — in the tribunal. Not in any of our capitals,” Lithuania’s top diplomat Kestutis Budrys told reporters in Luxembourg on Monday, adding: “There is no place for war criminals in Europe.”
Ireland’s Simon Harris said the planned meeting place was “provocative” but stressed that efforts toward peace are welcome — while France’s foreign minister said Putin’s presence on EU soil “only makes sense if it leads to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.”
Hungary, however, has been celebrating its role as hosting hopeful. Prime Minister Viktor Orban wrote on X that his country was the “only suitable” place in Europe for talks on Ukraine’s future — citing its “pro-peace” stance.
But Budapest’s habit of delaying and diluting EU sanctions on Russia and railing against the bloc’s backing for Ukraine have led political scientist Reinhard Heinisch to a different conclusion on Hungary’s stance.
“Many in the European Union have regarded Orban as a sort of Trojan horse for Russian interests,” Heinisch, a Salzburg-based professor, told DW earlier this year when other locations for future peace talks — from Switzerland to Saudi Arabia — were being discussed.
Could Putin be arrested on EU soil?
Under international law, Hungary is still technically obliged to arrest Vladimir Putin if he ever does arrive in the country. Though Budapest announced it was quitting the International Criminal Court in June, the rules still apply on paper.
“States still have obligations for one year after leaving, which includes arresting individuals who are under arrest warrants,” Mathias Holvoet, a lecturer in International Criminal Law at the University of Amsterdam, told DW.
But Holvoet says there’s no real prospect of that happening. In fact, Hungary already defied ICC rules this year by hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in defiance of the warrant for his arrest.
Hungary would follow a long line of other states which have ignored the rules they signed up to — from Italy failing to arrest a suspected Libyan war criminal in January, to South Africa failing to arrest Sudan’s indicted ex-president Omar Al-Bashir more than a decade ago.
“There are not really any consequences when states fail to uphold those obligations,” Holvoet explained. The Trump administration’s hostility to the ICC, including its sanctions on judges, have also curbed the court’s capacity to carry out its work.
Can Putin even fly through EU airspace?
Putin may feel safe on Hungarian soil, but getting there could be more problematic. Though the EU’s sanctions against Putin himself do not include a ban on travelling to the bloc, the EU banned Russian aircraft from its airspace in 2022.
That means Putin’s plane would need special permissions to fly over EU countries if talks in Budapest do go ahead. “Such derogations must be issued by the member states individually,” EU Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper told reporters on Friday.
Hungary is landlocked and shares borders with EU members Romania, Slovakia, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. Romania says it hasn’t received any airspace entry requests from Moscow — nor has nearby Bulgaria, though its foreign minister reportedly said the country was open to allowing Putin to fly over.
Hungary’s southern neighbour Serbia may also be a key gateway, since it is not a member of the EU and has refused to align with EU sanctions against Russia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban welcomed Serbia’s president Alexander Vucic to Budapest on Tuesday, welcoming the opportunity to “reconnect” with a “strategic partner.”
Source: https://www.dw.com/en/no-budapest-talks-in-immediate-future-but-eu-still-on-edge/a-74448278
