Trump - Putin summit in the 'heart of Europe': Serbian leader calls it 'historic', EU fears 'division'

According to RT, speaking to Serbian media on October 17, President Aleksandar Vucic praised the role of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in arranging "perhaps the most important summit of the 21st century".

However, the Serbian leader also warned that "liberal" factions in the US and some EU countries might try to sabotage the crucial meeting, which is expected to focus on finding a solution to the conflict in Ukraine.

Hungary's stance has long been different from most EU members, consistently opposing confrontational policies toward Russia and supporting a diplomatic solution. Prime Minister Orban wrote on social network X on October 17 that Budapest, with its "leading role in supporting lasting peace", is "the only suitable place in Europe for a Russia-US peace summit".

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto also confirmed on Facebook that "preparations for the conference are underway urgently".

Meanwhile, many EU and NATO members expressed discomfort. Spain's El Pais newspaper on October 18 quoted an unnamed European diplomat as saying that the choice of Budapest as the venue for the summit was an "embarrassing and awkward situation" that risked deepening "internal rifts within the EU over the Kremlin issue."

The summit was planned after President Trump and Putin had a nearly 2.5-hour phone call on October 16. Both sides described the discussion as "very useful" and "productive".

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the meeting could take place within the next two weeks or a little later. The two leaders last met in person in Alaska in mid-August.