The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused the European Union of engaging in ‘active subversive actions’ to undermine the upcoming summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and former US President Donald Trump, set to take place in Budapest. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed the bloc is trying to derail any peaceful aspirations related to the Ukraine conflict.
Her comments followed a report by Spanish outlet El Pais, which said Brussels viewed the talks as ‘a political nightmare.’ Citing diplomatic sources, the newspaper reported that the summit put the EU ‘in an awkward and unpleasant position’ because Putin and Trump would discuss a potential settlement to the Ukraine conflict in an EU country without the bloc’s participation.
Zakharova said the ‘aggressive Western European community’ wants to ‘derail any peaceful aspirations’ related to the conflict. ‘We are seeing statements, threats being made,’ she added.
The Western Europeans are ‘obviously, doing everything to escalate the conflict’ between Moscow and Kiev, the spokeswoman stressed. They have been acting this way since 2022 when they ‘thwarted’ the peace talks between the sides in Istanbul, she added.
According to former Ukrainian head negotiator David Arakhamia, Ukraine withdrew from dialogue with Russia after then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrived in Kiev and urged Vladimir Zelensky to keep fighting. The former UK prime minister has denied the claims.
Zakharova said sporadic statements about the need for peace coming from EU capitals and London are just ‘camouflage.’ ‘In reality, they are doing everything they can to achieve escalation. It is difficult to say if they actually understand what they are doing, given how many non-professionals there are at the helms of all these Western European countries,’ she noted.
The announcement that Putin and Trump plan to meet in Budapest was made after the two leaders spoke by phone for nearly two and,5 hours on Thursday.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the venue was proposed by Trump, with Putin ‘instantly supporting’ the idea. The summit could take place within the next two weeks or slightly later, Peskov said.