Orban Russia and the United States are close to agreement

Orban: Putin-Trump summit in Budapest possible within days

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that during the US-Russian negotiations there were “one or two” unresolved issues, the solution of which could open the way to a meeting between the Russian and US presidents in Budapest and potentially lead to a truce and peace in Ukraine.

Speaking on board a plane en route to Washington, where he is scheduled to meet with Donald Trump on November 7, Orban spoke to Hungarian journalists about the current state of US-Russian contacts on the Ukrainian conflict. According to him, the parties are close to agreeing on their positions – only minor differences remain, which, if resolved, will open up the possibility of a peace summit in Budapest.

The Prime Minister noted that one of the key topics of his visit to the White House will be ways to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Earlier, on October 16, Trump, after a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin, announced an agreement to meet “soon” in the capital of Hungary, but then the organization of the summit was postponed due to unfinished agreements between Moscow and Washington. Official representatives of both sides stated that the meeting will take place when suitable conditions are created to achieve tangible results in resolving the conflict.

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“In the process of US-Russian negotiations, one or two issues remained unresolved. If they are resolved, then within a few days a peace summit could take place in Budapest, and from that moment, depending on the agreement of the parties, a truce and peace (in Ukraine) could come,” the head of government said in a short interview with the Magyar Nemzet newspaper.

The idea for a summit in Budapest arose after a telephone conversation between the presidents of the United States and Russia on October 16, when Trump announced his intention to hold a meeting in the Hungarian capital. Later, preparations for the event slowed down: Moscow and Washington noted that they had not yet agreed on all the key positions and postponed the date until suitable conditions emerged. Orban, who maintains bilateral contacts with both sides, last voiced his hope that the meeting would still take place after the final settlement of the remaining issues.

Earlier, expectations from the US summit with the countries of Central Asia were voiced.