According to US sources, there are no plans for an imminent meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. This is not planned"in the near future," a senior official in the presidential office in Washington said on Tuesday. Just a few days ago, Trump raised the possibility of another summit with Putin, which could take place in Budapest within two weeks.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov also have no plans to meet in person, the official added. However, their phone call on Monday was"productive."
According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Russia does not want peace through diplomatic means. The US's postponement of its decision on supplying Ukraine with long-range Tomahawk missiles means that"Russia almost automatically has less interest in diplomacy," Zelensky explained in his evening video address on Tuesday."Russia is once again doing everything it can to abandon diplomacy."
Zelenskyy insists on long-range weapons
Zelensky again insisted on the supply of long-range weapons for his country."The farther Ukrainian weapons reach, the greater Russia's willingness to end the war." He was referring to Kyiv's sought-after approval for the sale of US-made Tomahawk cruise missiles."We have forced Russia to show that the Tomahawks are precisely the card they are taking seriously," Zelensky said. He will continue talks with Europeans and Americans on long-range weapons and air defense. Zelensky confirmed negotiations on a long-term contract for the supply of additional US Patriot air defense systems.
Poland threatens Putin with arrest during overflight
Meanwhile, Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has warned Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin against flying over Poland to a meeting with US President Donald Trump in Budapest."We cannot guarantee that an independent Polish court will not order a hypothetical plane with Putin on board to land so that the suspect can be handed over to the court in The Hague," Sikorski told Radio Rodzina.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023. He is accused of war crimes, including the abduction of hundreds of children from Ukraine.
"I think the Russian side is aware of the situation," Sikorski continued. If the summit in Budapest were to take place, Putin's plane would therefore take a different route. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov commented on Sikorski's statement, saying that Poland itself was now prepared to commit terrorist acts.
Flight route via Bulgaria possible
The US president announced last week that he was planning a summit with Putin on the Ukraine war in the Hungarian capital. To get from Russia to Budapest, Putin would have to fly either via Ukraine or an EU country that is a member of the International Criminal Court.
Bulgaria has already signaled that it would be willing to allow the overflight. One of the possible flight routes from Moscow to Budapest leads over the Black Sea, Bulgaria, and Serbia. However, the airspace of the southeastern EU country Bulgaria was closed to Russian aircraft after the start of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
Other possible routes lie further north—via Belarus and Poland, or via the Baltic Sea, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Poland is one of the most important political and military allies of Ukraine, which is under attack by Russia. Therefore, it is unlikely that the Kremlin would consider such a flight route.
