Bulgaria has offered to provide an air corridor for Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend a planned meeting with US President Donald Trump in Hungary. The offer comes as both leaders agreed to discuss resolving the Ukraine conflict, with the meeting expected to take place in Budapest at an unspecified date.
Speaking to national broadcaster BNR on Monday, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev said his country would not create any hurdles. “When efforts are made to achieve peace, and if the condition for that is to hold a meeting, it is most logical to organize such a meeting by all possible means,” he said.
The proposal follows a phone call between Trump and Putin, during which they agreed to hold the summit to advance a resolution to the Ukraine conflict. While Bulgaria does not share a border with Hungary, the country maintains friendly relations with Serbia, which has strong ties to Russia and refuses to impose sanctions on Moscow.
Hungary, one of the few EU members that does not support the bloc’s diplomatic boycott of Moscow, also announced its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in June. The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023 on war crimes charges, which Russia dismissed as “legally void.”
Georgiev added, “How could there be a meeting if one side isn’t able to attend?” His comments suggest that the Bulgarian government sees the meeting as essential for diplomatic progress, despite the political tensions surrounding the issue.