BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Preparations for a meeting in Budapest between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are still ongoing, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Wednesday, a day after the summit was put on hold.
The planned meeting was paused as Moscow’s rejection of an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine cast a cloud over attempts at negotiations.
“(Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter) Szijjarto is in Washington. Preparations for the peace summit are continuing. The date is still uncertain. When the time comes, we will hold it,” Orban wrote on Facebook.
Trump had announced last week that he and Putin would meet soon in Hungary to try to bring an end to the war in Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Trump said that he did not want to have a “wasted meeting” but suggested there could be more developments and that “we’ll be notifying you over the next two days”.
Orban, who is trailing in most polls ahead of 2026 parliamentary elections, has been a long-time ally of Trump.
He has also maintained warm relations with Moscow, adding to the bete noire status he had already gained in Brussels after years of conflict over what the EU says is democratic backsliding in Budapest.
(Reporting by Anita Komuves; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
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