Russia explained why Putin will meet Trump in Budapest
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Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s good relations with US President Donald and Russian President Vladimir Putin contributed to Budapest being tapped as the venue of the summit on the situation in Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
Russia hopes for progress
“We have a lot of homework to do. There must be work done between … our and the US foreign ministry,” he said.
Foreign affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the TASS news agency that the Russian and Hungarian foreign ministers had already had talks, and preparation was ongoing through diplomatic channels. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US counterpart Marco Rubio “will speak to each other soon.”
Russia hopes that the summit would bring progress towards the peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, and that they could discuss bilateral ties, the spokesman said.
Russia seeks full control over Donetsk
According to the Anadolu, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow would like to use the talks to first “move forward on a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.” On Saturday, The Washington Post reported, citing two senior officials familiar with the conversation, that Putin demanded control over the eastern region during the phone call as a condition for ending the Russia-Ukraine war. According to the report, Putin expressed willingness to give up parts of Ukraine‘s Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, which are partially under Russian control, in exchange for full control over Donetsk.