Choice of Trump-Putin meeting location angers Kyiv and other European capitals – FT

The choice of venue for the meeting of US President Donald Trump with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has irritated Kyiv and other European capitals. This was reported by the newspaper Financial Times.

Trump's announcement that his next summit with Putin will include Hungary's pro-Russian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has European capitals worried after the US president clearly backed Moscow on how to end Russia's war against Ukraine.

The choice of venue irritated Kyiv and other European capitals, as Orban has long been an ally of Russia and an antagonist to the European Union, despite the country's membership in the EU and NATO.

"Nobody likes it. We're all smiling through our teeth, saying it's normal," an unnamed European diplomat told the FT.

German State Minister for European Affairs Gunther Krishbaum said that "it is absolutely necessary that we now talk about how to stop this war", but stressed that "Ukraine must sit down at the negotiating table", otherwise it will be a "failed deal".

• On the evening of October 16, Trump had a telephone conversation with Putin. They discussed Russia's war against Ukraine and agreed that would meet within two weeks in Budapest.
• On October 17, Szijjártó said that Hungary is ready to guarantee Putin's security: he will be able to come and go freely in the country.
• On October 18, El Pais wrote that Trump's upcoming meeting with Putin in Budapest deepens divisions in the EU over the Kremlin.