Putin and Orban held phone conversation

Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban held a phone conversation on October 17 to discuss details of the upcoming summit in Budapest

Hungary confirmed its readiness to provide all necessary conditions for negotiations between the leaders of Russia and the United States. Putin briefed Trump on the content of his conversation.

As previously reported, the most important tasks have already been identified, and active work on organizing the summit has already begun. The Hungarian Prime Minister has ordered the creation of an organizing committee. However, not many European countries are pleased with the news of the Trump-Putin meeting. Besides Hungary, only Serbia and Slovakia welcomed the progress in dialogue. The EU also expressed skepticism about the choice of venue for the summit. Media outlets have already called the meeting in Budapest a slap in the face for the EU and NATO. Orban, however, is confident that the Hungarian capital is an ideal and "predictable" location for negotiations in Europe.

Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister of Hungary:

"If you look at the situation with the European Union, you'll understand that since everyone except us is in favor of war, they were logically not invited to this summit. But we must not stand aside."

As a reminder, the leaders of Russia and the United States spoke by phone the day before. It appears there's no longer any talk of Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine.