HUNGARY ASSERTS SOVEREIGNTY
Szijjarto said Budapest would not consult other nations about the visit.
“We will ensure that he enters Hungary, has successful negotiations here, and then returns home,” he told reporters.
“There is no need for any kind of consultation with anyone — we are a sovereign country. We will receive him with respect, host him, and provide the conditions for him to negotiate with the American president.”
Orban, a long-time Trump ally who has maintained close ties with Moscow, said the summit “will be about peace,” adding that a deal could “usher in a new phase of economic development in Hungary and Europe.”
He said the meeting could take place within the next two weeks, depending on the outcome of a planned meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov next week.
ZELENSKYY “REALISTIC” AFTER WHITE HOUSE MEETING
Earlier on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Trump at the White House, where the two discussed air defence needs, including Kyiv’s request for long-range Tomahawk missiles.
However, no deal was reached, and when asked if he was now more or less optimistic about receiving the weapons, Zelenskyy said: “I am realistic.”
Relations between Budapest and Kyiv remain fraught. Zelenskyy last month accused Hungary of flying drones into Ukrainian territory, prompting Orban to retort that Ukraine “was not an independent sovereign state.”
Hungary has also remained reliant on Russian oil and gas supplies, even as the EU seeks to phase them out by 2028. Orban has accused Brussels of taking a “pro-war stance” and urged Europe to open its own diplomatic channels with Russia ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting.
Source: CNA
