Presidents Putin and Trump are set to meet soon, as confirmed by the Kremlin. The meeting location remains undisclosed due to the ICC's arrest warrant against Putin, complicating venue selection. Potential locations include Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Hungary. The meeting follows significant diplomatic efforts by the US, though a ceasefire in Ukraine remains distant.
Putin and Trump Agree on Secret Meeting Amidst Global Tensions
Putin and Trump Agree on Secret Meeting
The presidents of the USA and Russia are set to meet soon, according to the Kremlin. A meeting place has been agreed upon, but in many countries, such a meeting is unthinkable. This is because 125 countries have pledged to arrest Putin if he sets foot there.
The White House confirmed on Wednesday that Donald Trump might meet Vladimir Putin next week. On Thursday, the Kremlin announced that a meeting between the presidents will take place "within the next few days," and a location has been decided, though it remains secret for now.
The announcement follows the visit of US envoy Steve Witkoff to Russia to meet with Putin, among others.
Trump claims that Witkoff has made "very significant progress" in the negotiations, although a ceasefire in the war with Ukraine still seems far off.
"We had good talks with Putin today, and there is a great chance that we can approach the end. The road has been long, and it continues to be long, but there is a great possibility that a meeting will happen very soon," Trump said, according to The Guardian.
He also wants to meet Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to sources from The New York Times. However, a meeting with all three leaders is not particularly likely.
Putin Could Be Arrested
If Trump and Putin are to meet, finding a meeting place will be tricky. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Putin, meaning that countries that have signed the Rome Statute are obliged to arrest the Russian president if he travels there.
This involves 125 countries. All EU countries have signed, as well as several other major countries like Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
Neither the USA nor Russia has ratified the Rome Statute, but historically, the countries' presidents usually meet on neutral ground.
After World War II, Truman and Stalin met in Germany, and during the Cold War, meetings between the countries' leaders were held in states like Switzerland, France, and Spain. All those states have signed the Rome Statute, so a meeting cannot take place there.
Possible Meeting Locations
In 1943, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin met in Tehran, but a meeting between Putin and Trump in Iran also seems unlikely after the US attack on Iran earlier this summer.
So, which countries remain?
Saudi Arabia and Turkey appear as possible meeting places, writes The Guardian. Russia and Ukraine have held negotiations there during the war.
Another option is Hungary. The country has signed the Rome Statute, but Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wants to leave the ICC and earlier this year welcomed Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu despite him also having an arrest warrant issued against him.