Interest is reignited regarding the moves on the diplomatic chessboard by Moscow and Washington, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov revealed that Budapest remains the preferred location for a potential summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.
In an interview with Russian media, Lavrov stressed that the meeting will take place only if "the American authorities renew their proposal" and "are ready to begin preparations at the highest level."
"If and when our American colleagues renew their proposal and are ready to begin preparations for the summit so that it is genuinely productive, of course, Budapest will be our preferred location," he stated clearly, according to TASS.
Lavrov recalled that Donald Trump had already expressed, during his meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a preference for Budapest as the venue for the meeting. Furthermore, he noted that Moscow is ready to discuss with the Americans "the resumption of preparatory work" for the summit between the two leaders.
The unofficial memorandum and the rumors of Russia's "demands"
The Russian Foreign Minister also commented on a Financial Times report (October 31), which claimed that Donald Trump canceled the meeting with Putin in Budapest after receiving a Russian memorandum with "demands" for Ukraine.
Lavrov clarified that it was an unofficial draft sent to the US a few days before the Putin-Trump conversation, and not after, as the newspaper reported. The document, he said, was intended to recall what had been discussed at the Anchorage summit and the understandings that, according to the Russian side, had been reached between the two leaders.
According to Financial Times sources, the memorandum allegedly contained requests for territorial concessions from Kyiv, a drastic reduction of the Ukrainian army, and guarantees that Ukraine would never join NATO.
"The hawks are trying to disrupt the summit"
The Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Alexey Chepa, told Gazeta.Ru that for the summit to take place in Budapest, "specific preconditions need to be met."
"There was an agreement that the meeting would be held in Budapest. Lavrov and (US Secretary of State Marco Rubio) were supposed to prepare it. They know best how ready it is. If Lavrov says it is ready, then it probably is. Both Trump and Putin want details. There must be specific preparations," he pointed out.
For his part, political scientist and Americanist Malek Dudakov argued that the October summit "was disrupted by the hawks of Europe and the US."
"A segment of the American administration and the hawks in Europe are trying every way to prevent this meeting. This is why Trump was forced to back down at the last moment," the expert stated.
Dudakov warned that if the meeting in Budapest is canceled again, the long-awaited US-Russia summit may be postponed indefinitely.
"Russia is strengthening its negotiating position by advancing on the battlefield. Sooner or later, the hawks will have to recognize Russia's growing victory on the Ukrainian front," he concluded.
Trump: "I want the meeting to be in Budapest"
On October 16, following a phone call with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump announced that the two sides had agreed to meet in Budapest "in the near future." However, on October 23, the American president stated that the meeting would not take place, as "it would not be possible to achieve the necessary results."
Later, on November 7, during Viktor Orban's visit to Washington, Trump explained that he canceled the summit due to the ongoing fighting in Ukraine. "The bottom line is they just don't want to stop," he said pointedly.
Despite the cancellation, Trump stressed that he still wishes to meet Putin in Budapest. "I would like the meeting to be in Hungary, in Budapest. I didn't hold it then because I didn't believe anything substantial would come out of it. But if it happens, I want it to be there," he mentioned.
The American leader added that the possibility of the summit convening remains open and that Viktor Orban "understands Putin and knows him very well."
"We discussed this with Viktor; he understands Putin, he knows him very well. Viktor believes we will succeed in ending the war in the not-too-distant future," Trump concluded.
The potential Putin-Trump summit in Budapest remains, for now, an open equation with strong geopolitical implications. If it ultimately takes place, it could be a pivotal point of rapprochement between Moscow and Washington—or, conversely, a new field of confrontation between the two great powers, Russia and the US.
Orban: The Russia-US summit in Budapest remains on the agenda
The diplomatic thriller surrounding the long-awaited summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump is taking on new dimensions, as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban confirmed that Budapest remains on the table as the possible venue.
In an interview with the Hungarian television channel ATV, Orban stated that Moscow and Washington are still discussing the possibility of a meeting between the two leaders, despite the postponements and the pressures being exerted from both sides of the Atlantic.
"I can say that the Russian-American summit in Budapest and a large peace conference are still on the agenda," the Hungarian Prime Minister clearly stated, adding that the Putin-Trump meeting has not been canceled but temporarily postponed.
Orban emphasized that the summit "could take place a little later, but it is not impossible," noting that an American-Russian agreement on Ukraine remains a realistic scenario.
According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, the two parties continue contacts at the diplomatic level. "We also know where they are stuck and what needs to change," he underlined, adding that he is using his relations with the Russian side to contribute to finding a solution.
"I am trying to help so that an agreement can be reached. I have not abandoned my peace mission," Orban said pointedly.
However, he acknowledged that the main obstacle to finding a solution is the issue of the territories in eastern Ukraine. He recalled that the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions were incorporated into Russia after the 2022 referendums, a fact that makes any agreement politically complicated, as parts of these regions are still under Ukrainian control.
The background
The show's host asked the Hungarian leader if Donald Trump could visit Budapest soon, even if the summit with Vladimir Putin does not eventually take place there. Orban replied that he could not confirm it, but did not rule out such a possibility, especially before the Hungarian elections in April 2026. It is recalled that on October 16, following a phone call with Putin, Trump had announced that the two sides agreed to meet in Budapest "in the near future." The meeting, however, was postponed, as there was no agreement in principle on the Ukrainian issue.
Later, on November 7, during the Orban-Trump meeting at the White House, the former US President stated that the main obstacle to the summit was Moscow's unwillingness to stop the fighting in Ukraine.
"The main issue is that they simply don't want to stop yet," Trump stated pointedly.
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