MOSCOW (Reuters) -The Kremlin said on Monday that Budapest was chosen as the venue for an upcoming summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump because Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has good ties with both leaders.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “Orban has quite warm relations with President Trump and very constructive relations with President Putin.
“And this, of course, greatly contributed to the understanding that was worked out during the last phone call,” he added, referring to last week’s conversation between Trump and Putin that led to them agreeing to meet in Budapest.
Orban, a nationalist and conservative, has repeatedly criticised Western backing of Ukraine, which neighbours his own country. Earlier this year, he said that Russia had already won the war in Ukraine.
Some European governments that support Ukraine have said it is inappropriate to host Putin for a summit in a European Union member state. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Monday described it as “not nice”.
Peskov said that work was only just beginning on the summit, which would be aimed at advancing a resolution to the Ukraine conflict, and developing relations between Russia and the United States.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov, Writing by Felix Light; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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