Poland doesn't rule out that Putin's plane could be forced to land if it enters Polish airspace
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has said he cannot rule out the possibility that if Russian leader Vladimir Putin flies through Polish airspace on his way to Budapest, his plane could be forced to land.
As reported by Polish news agency TVP Info, the Polish foreign minister noted that he could not guarantee "that an independent court would not oblige the Polish government to detain the plane carrying Putin if it entered Polish airspace in order to deliver the suspect to the International Criminal Court".
Since February, a ban on Russian aircraft has been in effect across the entire European Union, sparking speculation about what route Putin could take to reach Hungary.
When asked about this, Sikorski suggested that Putin could fly from Russia to Hungary through the airspace of Türkiye, Montenegro and Serbia.
"The fact that an EU member state, which still has obligations to the International Criminal Court, invites President Putin not only causes disgust but also shows that Hungary positions itself not as part of the West but somewhere between the West and Russia," the minister added. [N.B. European Pravda doesn't recognise Putin as president – ed.]
He recalled that "Hungary is not helping" by blocking support for Ukraine and continues to purchase large volumes of Russian oil despite having access to alternative sources.
Trump spoke with Putin on 16 October for the first time in nearly two months and later announced plans for their meeting in Budapest. It would be Putin's first appearance in the capital of an EU member state since the start of the full-scale invasion, requiring him to fly through the airspace of other EU countries.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said it is "not nice" that Putin, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, could travel to the territory of an EU member state to meet Trump.
Polish diplomatic sources believe it is unlikely that Putin would risk flying to Budapest for the meeting with the US president over Polish territory.