European Commission says sanctions do not ban Putin from entering EU

The European Commission has clarified that current EU sanctions against Russia's leadership do not include a direct ban on entry for Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin or Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, meaning there are no formal obstacles to a possible meeting between Putin and US President Donald Trump in Budapest.

Journalists asked during the briefing whether an agreement between Trump and Putin to meet in Budapest, Hungary's capital, would contradict existing EU sanctions.

"We have Putin and Lavrov under an asset freeze but not specifically under a travel ban. So, this was never applied to them. [...] For now, the meeting has not been confirmed. We will not comment on the hypothetical scenarios, but if this were to happen in just a purely factual [scenario], they are not under a travel ban per se," Anita Hipper, European Union spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs and Security, said during a daily briefing by the European Commission.

She was also asked how a plane carrying the Kremlin leader could physically arrive in Budapest, given that the EU has closed its airspace to Russian aircraft, and whether this would mean the European Commission would have to grant a special exemption.

Hipper noted that individual member states would have to provide the necessary exemption for Putin's aircraft to pass through.

In response to a question about the European Commission's stance on a potential Trump-Putin meeting in Budapest, Olof Gill, the Commission's deputy chief spokesperson, said the Commission welcomes anything that could bring a just and lasting peace to Ukraine, adding that if the expected meeting moves things in that direction, it would be a positive development.

On 16 October, Trump spoke with Russian ruler Vladimir Putin for the first time in nearly two months and announced that they plan to meet in Budapest, which would be Putin's first appearance in the capital of an EU member state since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine and would require him to fly over other EU countries.

After the conversation, Trump said that Putin does not like the idea of the US supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine and suggested that now is not the perfect time for secondary sanctions that would reduce Russia's revenue from energy exports.

Budapest said it would receive the Russian leader with respect despite the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant for him, adding that the date and specific venue of the Putin-Trump meeting have not yet been determined.