Navigating Sanctions: How Will Putin Travel to Budapest for Talks with Trump?

«Next visit to Moscow?» President Vladimir Putin inquired in English while addressing U.S. President Donald Trump during a press conference that took place following their summit in Alaska in August, which included officials and reporters.

In a shift of plans, the two leaders have decided to meet in Budapest, Hungary, in another attempt to negotiate a resolution to Russia’s nearly four-year-long invasion of Ukraine.

The selection of Budapest raised immediate concerns regarding how Putin, who faces sanctions imposed by Western nations and is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, will travel to the central European city.

For him to reach Budapest, he would need to navigate the airspace of Belarus, a close ally, as well as Poland or Slovakia—both of which are members of the European Union and NATO. This route could be fraught with danger given the prevailing political climate and the countries’ proximity to Ukraine.

While Romania is another potential route, it too is a member of NATO and the EU.

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Kremlin, commented to reporters on Friday that Putin’s travel route «remains uncertain.»

«For the moment, both presidents are willing to pursue this meeting. However, preliminary discussions will involve Foreign Minister Lavrov and Secretary of State [Marco] Rubio,» Peskov expressed.

This meeting is scheduled to take place over two months after their Alaska summit failed to resolve the diplomatic deadlock regarding the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Since then, Trump has expressed growing irritation with Putin and has considered increasing military aid to Kyiv.

According to the Kremlin, the concept of the meeting in Budapest was originally proposed by Trump, which Putin promptly endorsed.

Since the onset of the war in 2021, Putin has not visited Europe; he last met with then-U.S. President Joe Biden in Geneva.

Since 2023, he has been subject to an arrest warrant from the ICC for the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children, a situation that has severely limited his international travel. Notably, Russia is not a signatory to the ICC.

Hungary has declared its intention to withdraw from the ICC, but technically remains a member until June 2026.

However, this could be of little consequence. For instance, ICC member Mongolia did not detain Putin during his visit in 2024, attributing the decision to its «energy dependency» on Moscow.

On Friday, Hungary’s foreign minister stated that the country would guarantee Putin’s ability to enter and «successfully engage in talks» with the United States despite the ICC warrant.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban “offered to create the necessary conditions” for the summit in Budapest, as reported by the Kremlin.

Orban has previously described Budapest as «the only location in Europe today capable of hosting such a meeting,» citing Hungary’s «consistent» commitment to peace.

A spokesperson for the European Union welcomed the proposed meeting in a briefing on Friday, clarifying that while Putin is under an asset freeze, he is not restricted from traveling.

Switzerland, which is neither part of the EU nor NATO, has previously issued special permits allowing sanctioned Russian officials access to its territory.

In July, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko and a group of senior officials participated in the World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Geneva.

Additionally, Lavrov attended a two-day OSCE summit in Switzerland in 2024, marking his first visit to the EU since Russia’s incursion into Ukraine.

Reporting by AFP contributed to this article.