The White House is planning a possible trilateral meeting between the presidents of the United States, Russia, and Ukraine in the Hungarian capital of Budapest as the next step in negotiations to end the years-long war, according to a Trump administration official and a person close to the administration, reported Politico on Tuesday.
The United States Secret Service is preparing for the summit in the Central European nation led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has been close to President Donald Trump since the first term of the U.S. president.
While the Secret Service typically explores multiple locations and the final venue could change, Budapest is emerging as the top choice for the White House, according to the two individuals who were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. However, a White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed to Trump that he preferred Moscow, and French President Emmanuel Macron insisted that Geneva was the ideal location for the meetings. Not to be left out, the Swiss Foreign Minister promised "immunity" to Putin for an outstanding arrest warrant for war crimes if the nation, known for its neutrality, was chosen for the peace talks.
Hungary would be an uncomfortable option for Ukraine, as it evokes the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, in which the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia promised to defend Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and respect for its borders in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons. Putin's attack on Ukraine in 2014 demonstrated the futility of the agreement when none of the signatories provided military forces to counter the attacks.
