News - World: Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said the preparations for a summit in Budapest between US President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are in "full swing."

Szijjarto said in a post on Facebook on Friday that he had confirmed the meeting with Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov and “preparations are in full swing.”

Szijjarto added that Hungary assures Russia that it will enforce full security hosting the summit with Budapest respectfully receiving Putin and guaranteeing his unimpeded travel to and from the country.

In response, Ushakov replied that the necessary planning for the Russian leader's visit to Budapest would start “without delay.” 

Ushakov noted that the choice of the Hungarian capital city as the meeting place was suggested in a phone call by Trump and was immediately agreed upon by the Russian leader.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said he and Putin had talked about the matter on the phone on Friday.

He said that he had earlier spoken to Trump about it on the phone. He said he had declared Budapest's preparedness to both leaders to host the summit meeting between the Russian and US presidents.

Orban described the face-to-face talks between Trump and Putin at the planned summit in Hungary as “great news for the peace-loving people of the world.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov said earlier this week that the Alaska initiative was “not finished” yet and the two leaders can still “do much”  to end the Ukraine war.

The Alaska summit in mid-August was held to discuss the Ukraine conflict and the restoration of Russia-US relations.

In Alaska, the two leaders met face-to-face for the first time since 2019. However, the meeting failed to produce any practical results for a decisive breakthrough in the Ukraine war.

Trump announced his proposal to have a second summit meeting with Putin on Thursday, about two months passing from the first talks held in Anchorage, Alaska, USA, to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine.

In a phone call on Thursday, the two leaders had their first direct contact since the summit in Alaska. According to the Kremlin and the White House, Trump and Putin talked about the Ukraine war and the possibility of using long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Putin emphasized during the phone call that while Tomahawk missiles would not alter the battlefield situation, they could significantly hinder peace efforts.

Trump claimed the outcome of the phone call had been positive, describing it as “very productive.”

The US president said, “Great progress was made” in their phone conversation. 

Meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to meet with Trump in Washington on Friday.

Zelensky aims to purchase from Trump US Tomahawk missiles capable of striking targets deep inside Russian territory.

Putin has warned Trump against giving Kiev Tomahawk missiles, saying it would severely damage relations between Moscow and Washington.

The Russian leader said earlier this month that the Americans would be directly involved in the Ukraine war if Tomahawks were to be deployed in Ukraine.

Supplying Kiev with Tomahawk missiles would mean an “escalation” in the Ukraine war, Putin insisted.

Tomahawk missiles have a range of 2,500 kilometers. 

Source: Press TV