Poland threatens to arrest Putin if he flies through its airspace
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Poland warns Vladimir Putin against flying through its airspace for a Hungary summit with Donald Trump, citing a possible international arrest warrant.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to the head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor) Svetlana Radionova during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025 (AP)
Poland issued a warning to Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, stating that he should not travel through its airspace for a summit in Hungary with US President Donald Trump and declaring that it could be forced to execute an international arrest warrant if he did.
Bulgaria's foreign minister, Georg Georgiev, however, stated that his country would be willing to permit Putin to use its airspace if the summit is held in Hungary.
"I cannot guarantee that an independent Polish court won’t order the government to escort such an aircraft down to hand the suspect to the court in The Hague," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told Radio Rodzina on Tuesday.
"And, therefore, if this summit is to take place, hopefully with the participation of the victim of the aggression, the aircraft will use a different route," the Polish Foreign Minister added.
Sikorski last week accused Russia of a "tactically stupid and counterproductive" escalation of the war in Ukraine and stated that its drone incursion into Poland last month appeared to be deliberate.
Trump, Putin agree to meet in Hungary
US President Donald Trump announced that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to hold a summit in Budapest aimed at advancing talks to end the war in Ukraine following what he described as a "very productive" phone conversation on October 16.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump stated that the two-hour phone call with Putin yielded "great progress" and added that both leaders discussed prospects for peace and post-war relations.
"I believe great progress was made with today’s telephone conversation," Trump wrote, noting that the talks would be followed by lower-level meetings between Washington and Moscow next week and confirming that he and Putin plan to meet in Budapest "to see if we can bring this ‘inglorious’ war between Russia and Ukraine to an end."
Lavrov, Rubio, discuss the Putin-Trump summit
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a phone call on October 21 to discuss preparations for the anticipated summit between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, as confirmed by both sides.
According to US Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott, Rubio "emphasized the importance of upcoming engagements as an opportunity for Moscow and Washington to collaborate on advancing a durable resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war."
The Kremlin confirmed the discussion but offered no new details on the meeting’s agenda and it remains unclear whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be invited to participate, despite his public statements expressing readiness to attend.
“If I am invited to Budapest, if it is an invitation in a format where we meet as three or, as it's called, shuttle diplomacy, President Trump meets with Putin and President Trump meets with me, then in one format or another, we will agree,” Zelensky stated.
