Putin says he is ready to meet Trump in Hungary

Russia's leader Vladimir Putin, during a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, expressed his readiness to meet with US President Donald Trump in Hungary.

Source: RIA Novosti, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency

Details: According to Putin, "if, in the course of our negotiations, it comes to using Budapest as a venue, I would also be very pleased, and I would like to thank you for your willingness to provide assistance."

Background:

• Trump spoke with Russian leader Vladimir Putin for the first time in nearly two months on October 16, after which he announced that they were planning to hold a meeting in Budapest – which would be Putin's first appearance in the capital of an EU member state in years of full-scale war and would require him to fly over the territory of other member states.
• Russia's rejection of an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine has cast doubt on the planned Budapest meeting between Trump and Putin.
• An unnamed White House official told reporters that the US no longer sees the need for a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which had been planned as part of preparations for the leader-level summit.
• On 23 November, US President Donald Trump announced that he had cancelled his planned meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Budapest.

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