The European Union considers it an insult that US President Donald Trump and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin have planned a meeting in the Hungarian capital, Budapest.

Source : Spanish newspaper El País, as reported by European Pravda

Details : El País reported that the planned Trump-Putin meeting in Budapest puts the heads of the EU and NATO institutions "in an awkward and unpleasant position", as Putin and Trump intend to discuss the Russo-Ukrainian war in an EU country, but without the participation of the EU itself.

In addition, the newspaper states that if EU leaders do not want to anger Trump, they will be forced to issue Putin special permits to fly through their airspace or force him to take a longer route.

"The location has been chosen carefully because it could benefit Russia by deepening divisions within the EU over the Kremlin. It could also do a big favour for [Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor] Orbán, who faces elections in his country next year," said an unnamed European diplomat.

In public statements, EU leaders say that a Trump-Putin meeting would be beneficial if it helped to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

However, in private conversations, several sources have described it as a "political nightmare" for the EU.

Background:

• Trump spoke with Putin on 16 October for the first time in nearly two months. Following the conversation, he announced plans for a meeting in Budapest, which would be Putin's first appearance in an EU capital since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The visit would require Russian aircraft to cross the airspace of other EU member states.
• Trump said after the call that Putin did not like the idea of the US providing Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, adding that he believes that now "it may not be perfect timing" to impose secondary sanctions aimed at reducing Russia's energy revenues.

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