Moscow accuses EU of attempting to thwart Putin-Trump meeting

(MENAFN) Russia has accused the European Union of deliberately trying to disrupt the anticipated meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, which is expected to take place soon in Budapest, Hungary. The Russian Foreign Ministry claimed that the bloc is engaging in “active subversive actions” aimed at undermining the summit, which Moscow describes as an important step toward potential dialogue on global and regional security issues.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Monday that Brussels is working behind the scenes to obstruct any effort toward peaceful negotiations between Moscow and Washington. Her remarks came after Spanish daily El País reported that EU officials were alarmed by the planned summit, calling it “a political nightmare.” According to the newspaper, citing diplomatic sources, the EU views the meeting as deeply uncomfortable because it would see Putin and Trump discussing possible resolutions to the Ukraine conflict within an EU member state, yet without the bloc’s participation or input.

Zakharova claimed that the “aggressive Western European community” seeks to “derail any peaceful aspirations” related to the ongoing war. “We are seeing statements, threats being made,” she said, emphasizing that many European governments appear determined to block any pathway toward negotiation. She further accused Western European states of pursuing policies designed to “escalate the conflict” between Russia and Ukraine rather than reduce tensions.

According to Zakharova, this behavior is not new. She asserted that since 2022, Western governments have “thwarted” peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, referencing the stalled negotiations that took place in Istanbul early in the conflict. The spokeswoman pointed to comments by former Ukrainian chief negotiator David Arakhamia, who claimed that then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson encouraged President Vladimir Zelensky to withdraw from peace talks and continue fighting. Johnson, however, has publicly denied those allegations.

Zakharova also dismissed occasional remarks from European and British officials about the need for peace, calling them misleading. “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, accusing Western leaders of hypocrisy and poor judgment.

The Kremlin has confirmed that preparations for the Putin-Trump summit are underway following a lengthy phone call between the two leaders last Thursday, which lasted nearly two and a half hours. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the idea of holding the meeting in Budapest was proposed by Trump himself, and that Putin “instantly supported” the suggestion. According to Peskov, the meeting could take place “within the next two weeks or slightly later,” though the exact date has yet to be finalized.

If held, the summit would mark the most high-profile direct engagement between the two leaders since Trump’s return to the White House, and it could signal a shift in the dynamics of Western-Russian diplomacy. Analysts say it also places the EU in a politically uncomfortable position, as it risks being sidelined in discussions about the Ukraine conflict taking place on its own soil.

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