Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – On Monday, Kaja Kallas, the foreign policy chief of the European Union, stated that it was “not nice” that the Russian president may travel to Hungary, which is a member of the EU, for discussions about Ukraine.
On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that he would soon meet with Putin in Budapest. Ahead of a meeting of European foreign ministers in Luxembourg, Kallas told reporters that they welcome Trump’s push for peace, but it’s also important that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy meet with Putin.
Why is Kaja Kallas critical of Putin’s visit to Hungary?
“Regarding Budapest, no, it’s not nice … to see that really a person put to the arrest warrant by the ICC is coming to a European country,”
Kallas said, adding that the
“question is whether there is any outcome”.
Putin has been issued an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court, which Hungary is in the process of exiting.
“America has a lot of strength to pressure Russia to come to the negotiation table, if they use that then, of course, this is good if Russia stops this war,”
Kallas also stated.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys indicated that there is no place for Putin in any European capital.
“The only place for Putin in Europe (is) in The Hague, in front of the tribunal, not in any of our capitals,”
he said ahead of the ministers’ meeting.
When was Putin’s last official visit to an EU country?
According to reports, Putin’s last official visit to a country in the EU was in 2014 when he attended the 25th anniversary of Italy-Russia diplomatic relations in Italy. Despite tensions building over Russia’s actions in Ukraine, Putin attended several diplomatic events during that time.
Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and involvement in the conflict of Eastern Ukraine, relations between the EU and Russia soured considerably which kept European leaders and EU countries from hosting any of his official visits since.
