The White House chief of staff has said he will not meet with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in Budapest for now. The US unexpectedly announced preparations for the meeting last week and it was expected to take place by the end of October.

The best outcome?

Trump now claims that he did not want to waste time on a summit that would lead nowhere, as the Russians are unwilling to stop their aggression against Ukraine on the current front line.

"It seems that the meeting will not really take place in the end. That would probably be the best outcome for Ukraine and Europe. And, by the way, for the US, too, given its long-term interests and reputation. Moscow has once again shown itself to be inflexible with its maximalist demands. However, it is not yet clear whether it has overdone it after all or whether its perseverance will pay off," Volodymyr Dubovyk, an international relations expert at the Odessa I. I. Mechnikov National University, told Pravda, referring to Trump's frequent changes of opinion on Russia's war against Ukraine.

Fico before his trip to Brussels: Slovakia will support the 19th sanctions package, but wants...

Last week, it seemed that the Kremlin had a good game with the White House. The planned meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán would be a victory for Putin. Given the Hungarian government's stance on Ukraine, the Russian ruler could feel at home in Budapest. At the same time, he would get to the territory of the European Union, although he is subject to sanctions and an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes.

The EU welcomed the summit cautiously, but behind the scenes, there was a frenzy of activity to prevent the US president from promising too much to Putin. Several European leaders therefore decided to take the initiative and reminded the ruler of the White House that Russia was not backing down from its maximalist demands and was not willing to stop attacking. Ukraine had already agreed to a 30-day unconditional ceasefire in March.

"We strongly support President Trump's position that the fighting should stop immediately and that the current line of contact should be the starting point for negotiations. We continue to adhere to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force. Russia's delaying tactics have shown time and again that Ukraine is the only party serious about peace. We all see that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction," the top leaders of several European countries, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa said in a statement.

In addition, Bloomberg reported that the Europeans are working with Ukraine on a 12-point plan to end the Russian war. It is supposed to include the return of all deported children to Ukraine, an exchange of prisoners, security guarantees, money for war reparations and a path to rapid entry into the European Union for Kiev. On the other hand, sanctions against Russia would be gradually lifted. However, approximately $ 300 billion in frozen central bank reserves would be returned only after Moscow agrees to contribute to the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.

EU Summit

In this situation, a European Union summit is taking place in Brussels tomorrow. Slovakia is represented by Prime Minister Robert Fico, who complained about the effort to disrupt Trump's meeting with Putin. The Prime Minister, speaking at a session of the parliamentary committee for European affairs, said that it would be most sensible for the EU to support the holding of this meeting, and he wants to talk about it with other representatives of the member states. Fico also had a bilateral meeting scheduled with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

But Marta Prochwicz of the European Council on Foreign Relations said Europeans need to be more proactive in addressing Russia's aggression against Ukraine. She also said it was right that the Budapest summit had been averted for now.

"Otherwise, it would reveal the EU's unwillingness to confront Trump, as well as its long-standing inability to punish Orbán's Hungary for its pro-Kremlin orientation. And even if the front stops at the current position, Putin will regroup and attack again. This means that the union's efforts must be focused on long-term defensive support for Kiev, gradual integration into the EU, and supporting Ukraine's domestic resilience," Prochwicz explained.

"It's all about respect. If we as the European Union enjoyed greater respect, none of its potential participants would dare to propose the summit in Budapest. Neither Orbán as the prime minister of one of the member states, nor Putin, who is being prosecuted by the International Criminal Court. And, of course, it would not even occur to the president of the United States. I have been saying this for years. Unless Europe is able to have armed forces in a format, structure and volume that will represent a real deterrent, until then we will be stuck in a vicious circle," former Slovak Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda responded to Pravda.

Before the summit, Fico indicated that Slovakia would not block the 19th package of sanctions against Russia. According to the TASR agency, the prime minister said that this was a reaction to the fact that the draft conclusions of the meeting included a statement that the European Commission must respond quickly and clearly to energy prices. Fico also said that it would be necessary to revise the proposal to ban internal combustion engines from 2035, and the result should be a compromise.

The Slovak prime minister will represent Orbán at the Ukraine part of the summit. Orbán does not want to participate, but Hungary will not block sanctions against Russia.