Budapest could host peace talks between Trump, Putin, and Zelensky
Budapest has emerged as one of several possible venues for upcoming peace talks between Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, according to Sky News. Péter Magyar, leader of the opposition Tisza party and frontrunner for the 2026 election, swiftly endorsed the idea, urging Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to take the initiative in convening the meeting—invoking the 1994 Budapest Memorandum as precedent.
Trump, Putin, and Zelensky could strike peace in Budapest
Sky News reported yesterday that within the so-called “Coalition of the Willing,” Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni has put forward Rome, while Emmanuel Macron has suggested Geneva, as potential sites for the first trilateral meeting of Trump, Putin and Zelensky. According to the outlet, Trump and Zelensky favour Rome—particularly the Vatican—while Putin leans towards Geneva.
Both the Italian and Swiss foreign ministries are said to have welcomed the prospect of hosting the talks, which could take place as early as the latter half of this week. Yet several EU diplomats have floated Helsinki and Budapest as alternatives. Helsinki carries Cold War associations with arms control and security diplomacy, while Budapest was the site of the 1994 memorandum that guaranteed Ukraine’s sovereignty after the collapse of the Soviet Union—a guarantee shattered by Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Meeting could happen within two weeks
Reuters, citing a senior US government official, reported on Tuesday morning that Budapest is now being seriously considered as the location. Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has suggested the summit could take place within a fortnight.
Magyar, who has led opinion polls since November, was quick to renew his call for Hungary to host, framing it as an opportunity to revive the spirit of the Budapest Memorandum. “As is well known, the 31-year-old agreement signed in our country provided security guarantees for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and independence. And this is exactly what we need again—a long-term, viable agreement,” he wrote.
Pushing for a peace deal instead of a ceasefire
The possibility of a summit comes after Trump met Putin in Alaska last week, before holding talks on Monday with Zelensky and European leaders including Ursula von der Leyen, Macron and Merz. During the public portion of that meeting, Trump declared that a comprehensive peace deal to end the war in Ukraine was now “within reach”, according to MTI.
While acknowledging that many leaders would prefer an immediate ceasefire, Trump said he remained optimistic about brokering a more durable settlement.
On Truth Social he added that preparations were underway: “I have initiated preparations for a meeting between Presidents Putin and Zelensky. The location is yet to be finalised. After the meeting, a trilateral discussion will take place, which I will also attend.”
Security guarantees and NATO’s role
Trump claimed Putin had already signalled a willingness to accept security guarantees for Ukraine—something he described as “one of the key points we need to consider during the negotiations”. He has not ruled out deploying US peacekeepers to enforce an eventual agreement. Lithuania has gone further, expressing readiness to send NATO troops, though Moscow continues to reject any such deployment outright.
NATO’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, told Fox News today that European or NATO troop commitments had not been discussed in the latest round of talks, though the issue is expected to resurface in later negotiations. France and the UK have previously indicated their openness to contributing forces to a ceasefire monitoring mission.
According to Reuters, Zelensky announced at yesterday’s press conference that he had proposed a $90bn package of US arms purchases in talks with Trump—an offer certain to shape the military and diplomatic backdrop to any forthcoming summit.
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Well Putin proved that the 1994 Budapest Memorandum guaranteeing Ukraine’s borders and security was not worth the paper it was printed on. Should there be a “2025 Budapest Memorandum” it will likely be a repeat as Russia will never honour any security guarantees it gives be it for Ukraine, Georgia, the Baltics, etc. The only thing that will secure Ukraine’s borders and the borders of the rest of Europe from this real-life Bond villain that runs Russia is robust military force put in place right up at the borderline.