US officials explained today that some European leaders will need to grant special permission to Vladimir Putin to fly over their airspace to attend the summit in Budapest with Donald Trump.
The president of the United States announced yesterday that he will speak again in person with the Russian leader, with the aim of ending the inglorious invasion of Ukraine, which has been going on for more than three years.
The meeting is scheduled to take place in Budapest, as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has friendly relations with both leaders.
However, due to the ban on Russian aircraft flying over EU airspace, the Russian president is theoretically unable to reach Budapest without violating EU measures. Therefore, he has two options, either to risk flying over Ukraine or to choose a complicated route through the Balkans.
According to the EU sanctions regime, the competent authorities at national level may exceptionally authorize such a flight, if they consider that such landing, take-off or overflight is necessary for humanitarian reasons or for any other purpose consistent with the objectives of this Regulation, as stated in the official text of the sanctions.
European Commission spokeswoman Anita Hipper stressed, however, that neither Vladimir Putin nor his Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, are currently subject to individual travel bans within the EU.
No date has been set for the Putin – Trump meeting yet, while Moscow has not provided any details about the Russian president's travel plans.
Another potential obstacle for Putin is the fact that he has an outstanding arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) — a warrant that Hungary, as a member of the ICC, would theoretically be obligated to execute if he were to arrive in the country. However, it is considered unlikely that Hungary will implement the warrant.
"We will ensure that [Putin] enters Hungary, has successful negotiations here and then returns to his homeland," Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said at a press conference on Friday.
