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.
EU supports Trump-Putin meet in Budapest if serves peace
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EU supports Trump-Putin meet in Budapest if serves peace
- 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
Brazil’s Lula accuses Trump of seeking to forge ‘new UN’
- Lula defended multilateralism against what he called “the law of the jungle” in global affairs
- Key US allies including France and Britain have also expressed doubts
BRASILIA: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva accused Donald Trump on Friday of trying to create “a new UN” with his proposed “Board of Peace.”
The veteran leftist joins other world leaders who have avoided signing up for Trump’s new global conflict resolution organization, where a permanent seat costs $1 billion and the chairman is Trump himself.
“Instead of fixing” the United Nations, “what’s happening? President Trump is proposing to create a new UN where only he is the owner,” Lula said.
Trump unveiled his “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos Thursday, joined on stage by leaders and officials from 19 countries to sign its founding charter.
Lula defended multilateralism against what he called “the law of the jungle” in global affairs.
His remarks come a day after he spoke by phone with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who urged his counterpart to safeguard the “central role” of the United Nations in international affairs.
In his remarks on Friday, Lula said “the UN charter is being torn.”
Although originally intended to oversee Gaza’s rebuilding, the board’s charter does not seem to limit its role to the Palestinian territory and appears to want to rival the United Nations.
Key US allies including France and Britain have also expressed doubts.
London balked at the inclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces are fighting in Ukraine after invading in 2022.
France said the charter as it currently stood was “incompatible” with its international commitments, especially its UN membership.
