EU sanctions won't stop Putin from crossing European borders
Photo: Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (Getty Images)
Sanctions against Russia do not prohibit Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin or Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov from crossing EU borders, The Guardian reports.
Sanctions will not prevent Putin and Lavrov from arriving in EU
EU spokesperson says that Putin's assets have been frozen, but there is no ban on his entry into the European Union, as plans for a US-Russia summit in Hungary are going ahead.
The EU welcomes the announced meeting between US President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin if it can help bring peace to Ukraine.
Germany saw Putin's reaction to pressure
At the same time, a source in the German government told the agency that the telephone conversation between Trump and Putin shows that the Russian president is responding to pressure for serious peace talks.
"He reacts to pressure … this telephone call yesterday also showed that it is also a consequence of decisions based on announcements by the US side," says a German government spokesperson.
The German representative also noted that pressure on the Russian dictator to engage in serious peace talks must be urgently intensified.
Preparations for Trump's meeting with Putin in Budapest
The Guardian recalls that Putin held a telephone conversation with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Friday to discuss the upcoming summit with Donald Trump, the Kremlin said.
Moscow also says that Putin informed Orbán about his conversation with Trump, and the Hungarian prime minister said that Budapest is ready to provide the necessary conditions for the summit.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will need to call each other and arrange a meeting to resolve many issues regarding the summit.
"There are many questions, negotiating teams need to be determined, and so on and so forth. Therefore, everything will be done in stages, but, of course, the presidents' will is there," Peskov said on Friday.
He stressed that the summit could indeed take place within the next two weeks or a little later.
"There’s a general understanding that nothing should be put of," Peskov added.
On October 16, it became known that Trump and Putin are to meet in Budapest in the next two weeks. Active preparations for the summit are currently underway on the part of the US, Russia, and Hungary.
Today, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Washington to discuss important issues, in particular, the supply of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine.
