Vladimir Putin’s ‘Flying Kremlin’ superjet could be forced to land in EU en route to Trump | US | News
Poland warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that he would be forced to land and would be arrested if he passed through Polish airspace on his way to Budapest to meet the US President. Donald Trump.
If Putin gambles, Polish authorities will hand him over to the International Criminal Court about alleged war crimesAccording to Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski. Last week, President Trump announced a summit with Putin in Budapest “in two weeks or so,” after speaking by phone ahead of Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss a possible arms exchange. Sale of US Tomahawk long-range missiles.
Zelensky left Washington on Friday after a long meeting with Trump officials without the missiles; This could have been a game changer during Kiev’s attrition offensive. The Ukrainian leader believes Putin is “afraid” of Kiev obtaining the weapons, and Trump suggested Putin begged him not to make a deal after hinting at the possibility of an arms swap.
White House sources told CNN that the summit “will be put on hold for now” after a meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday concluded that the two countries had “different expectations” for ending the war in Ukraine. White House sources said Rubio doubted the meeting between Trump and Putin would be productive, given Russia’s reluctance to concede on its demands.
Russian officials rejected the narrative that “the meeting was postponed” because the meeting was never finalized, and expressed hope for future talks. The Russian Foreign Ministry described the first phone call in which the two discussed a possible meeting as “constructive” and said the two were taking “concrete steps” to implement the agreement.
Trump and Putin last met for a summit in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15. The Russian leader was welcomed on the red carpet after arriving on a modified Ilyushin Il-96 aircraft. Russian aircraft are currently prohibited from entering US and European Union airspace. But Trump made an exception in August.
Putin’s trip to Hungary, a landlocked country in Central Europe, the EU and NATO, may be a difficult travel destination for the Russian leader. EU freezes Putin and Lavrov’s assets Russiafull scale invasion Ukrainian In February 2022.
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Hungary is currently trying to remove itself from the ICC, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Putin’s closest ally in the EU, has guaranteed Putin’s security. Putin may need to ask for permission to bypass the EU’s airspace ban to fly directly to Budapest in his defense-boasting Ilyushin Il-96 aircraft.
Given Putin’s rocky relations with Ukraine and Poland, he will likely need to take a longer route southwards via Türkiye and Southeast Europe. Potential difficulties could arise if EU countries such as Bulgaria and Romania, both of which have NATO bases, block Putin’s trip.
Romania confirmed that it “has not received any flight requests from the Russian Federation so far.” However, Bulgaria did not comment on the situation at the time of publication.
What is Putin’s ‘Flying Kremlin’ aircraft fleet?
Nicknamed the “Flying Kremlin”, the Russian president and other government officials have the right to own a fleet of aircraft. The primary presidential aircraft is a modified Ilyushin Il-96, a wide-body, four-engine, long-range aircraft with defensive systems.
It also appears to have owned the Tupolev Tu-154 and Sukhoi Superjet 100, among others.
