Trump explains why he wants to meet with Putin in Budapest

US President Donald Trump has explained his choice of venue for a meeting with Russian ruler Vladimir Putin: he likes Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Source: Trump during a press briefing at the White House during his meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Trump said he decided to propose the Hungarian capital as the meeting venue "because it's a leader that we like".

Quote: "We like Viktor Orbán. He [Putin] likes him, I like him. [Hungary is] a country that's a safe country… He's been a very good leader in the sense of running his country. He doesn't have a lot of the problems that other countries have."

Details: The US president said he is confident that Orbán "will be a very good host".

Background:

• Trump spoke with Putin on 16 October for the first time in nearly two months. Following the conversation, he announced plans for a meeting in Budapest, which would be Putin's first appearance in an EU capital since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The visit would require Russian aircraft to cross the airspace of other EU member states.
• Bloomberg has reported that European leaders are trying to secure a seat at the negotiating table between Putin and Trump after their previous meeting in Alaska undermined efforts to maintain pressure on Russia.

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