What route could Putin take to go to the summit in Hungary for talks with Donald Trump?

Hungary is a ‘safe space’ for Putin as the country is in the process of pulling out of the International Criminal Court (ICC) but an ICC warrant for his arrest covers surrounding countries.

Russian planes are also banned from EU airspace so if he decides to try to fly to Hungary, he would need special dispensation to fly over an EU member state.

The flight ban has been in place since the star of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. There is a blanket ban on any Russian aircraft flying through EU skies.

Hungary has however pledged that talks can take place there ‘successfully’.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told reporters "we will of course ensure that he can enter Hungary, hold successful talks here, and then return home".

The biggest sticking point at present is how Putin will reach Budapest from Moscow. He is unable to fly over Ukraine and probably Poland too due to heightened tensions between the two nations.

One possibility is a 5,000 mile detour that takes him over Turkey then north west over Bulgaria, Serbia or Romania and then to Hungary.

However that would rely on Romania granting permission.

Romania has what is set to become the biggest Nato base in Europe, and Bulgaria is also building a Nato base as Nato's eastern defences are shored up.

A spokesperson in Bucharest said that speculation was rife at present and that "Romania has not received a request for overflight from the Russian Federation to date".

Another possible route would be to go over Turkey, then take an even longer trip around the south coast of Greece before moving up towards Montenegro and over Serbia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that ‘many questions’ still need to be resolved before the trip can take place.

Putin’s arrest?

Putin has been accused by the ICC of war crimes of unlawfully deporting and transferring of Ukrainian children to Russia but his arrest is almost inconceivable.

He is not subject to a travel ban, only an asset freeze. The ICC, which has 125 member states, has no police force and hence no means of enforcing arrests.

However, if it means heading towards peace in the conflict, Europe may be forthcoming in terms of greasing the wheels so that the talks can go ahead smoothly.

European Commission spokeswoman Anitta Hipper said on Friday that "in terms of the direction of travel, member states can give derogations but it must be given by member states individually".

The EU’s executive commission has said that they want to take what steps they can towards creating a “just and lasting peace for Ukraine.”