The European Commission cautiously welcomed the announcement by US President Donald Trump to hold talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Budapest in the coming two weeks to advance a possible end to the war in Ukraine.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was quick to declare the surprise choice of Budapest to hold the meeting as a vindication of his calls on EU leaders to negotiate with Moscow instead of confrontation as the full-scale invasion of Ukraine rages.
Orbán, who is close to both Trump and Putin, exclaimed that “Hungary is the island of PEACE” in a post on X on Friday, adding that his country was “the only place in Europe” where such a summit could take place.
The European Commission adopted a prudently positive tone about the meeting announcement.
“Any meeting that moves forward just and lasting peace in Ukraine is welcome,” Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said.
He added, the EU remains committed to supporting Ukraine and to weakening Russia.
“It’s long overdue for Russia to stop its senseless and illegal aggression against Ukraine. From the EU side, we are doing everything to support Ukraine as well as weaken Russia’s ability to wage its war,” Gill said.
While the Commission welcomed the announcement, elsewhere in Brussels, the mood remained sceptical, addressing the close relations between Orbán and Putin.
At a press briefing at the European Parliament with the spokespersons of the different parties, the European People’s Party and Renew Europe political groups voiced scepticism about the summit.
The European Parliament’s Socialist and Democrats, Renew Europe and European Conservatives and Reformists highlighted the need to represent Ukraine’s interests at the table.
The spokesperson from the Greens/EFA and the Left pushed matters further by saying that Putin should be arrested on European soil for war crimes in Ukraine.
From the far right, the Europe of Sovereign Nations and Patriots for Europe welcomed the talks.
“Budapest sends a clear message: the logic of war can be overcome. Peace is built through dialogue, not sanctions,” a spokesperson of the Patriots, Ágnes Karándi, said.
European political analysts remain sceptical
The prospect of a meeting between Trump and Putin has been met with doubt among some of Brussels’ top political experts who think the meeting is likely to create tensions within the EU.
Dániel Hegedűs, the regional director of the German Marshall Fund of the US, told Euronews that the possibility of the Budapest summit is a huge success for the Orbán government and a deliberate challenge to the unity of the EU and its foreign and security policy.
“Providing this symbolic gift to the most illiberal government in the European Union that has been an outlier in its foreign policy related to Russia and Ukraine, practically since the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine,” Hegedűs said.
“This is a deliberate attempt on the part of the US administration to weaken EU unity and actually to undermine the current mainstream position of the European Union about the support of Ukraine and and actually its sanction policy against Russia.”
Hegedűs added that it’s clear that Trump prefers a fragmented Europe rather than a unified one that is capable and ready to act in its own interest.
Alberto Alemanno, a Jean Monnet Professor in European Law at HEC Paris, agreed.
“It’s yet [more] evidence that Viktor Orbán is more loyal to Russia and US interests than to the Union his country belongs to,” he said.
The professor claimed Orbán is now acting as a Trojan horse within the EU, with a constant boycott of the EU’s general interest, and that this is becoming unsustainable.
“This meeting risks giving Orban the authority to speak on behalf of the EU, while his personal stance on Ukraine stands antithetical to the Union. The optic will be favorable to him, shadow Kallas, and the EU26, similarly to what he did when holding the rotating presidency,” Alemanno said.
Orbán opposed to Ukraine in the EU
During the Hungarian Council presidency last year, Orbán launched what he called a peace mission without coordinating with the EU, and travelled to both Ukraine and Russia for talks with the leadership of both countries.
At the European Political Community meeting in Copenhagen earlier this month, Orbán rejected the idea of amending the EU’s enlargement rules to facilitate Ukraine’s accession talks.
The so-called Costa Plan suggested lifting the unanimity required for the opening of each negotiating chapter.
Changing the rules also requires unanimity, and Hungary will veto Ukraine’s EU accession, according to Orbán.
“I told them, I do not agree, so this plan is dead,” Orbán said, accusing EU leaders of seeking confrontation with Russia.