A White House official told The Independent there are “no plans” for a sit-down between Trump and Putin “in the immediate future” because Secretary of State Marco Rubio had conducted a “productive call” with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov which made an in-person meeting between the two top diplomats “not necessary.”

“Budapest is essentially the only place in Europe today where such a meeting could be held, primarily because Hungary is almost the only pro-peace country,” Orbán said. “For three years, we have been the only country that has consistently, openly, loudly and actively advocated for peace.”

Vladimir Putin should only be allowed to travel to the European Union if he agrees to an unconditional ceasefire, France has said.

Hungary's strongman leader Viktor Orbán calls Trump's announcement of a meeting with Putin in his country great news for "peace-loving people."

Questions loom about whether the Russian president might be subject to arrest while traversing the airspace of International Criminal Court members.

President Donald Trump schedules call with Russian President Vladimir Putin as Ukraine seeks long-range Tomahawk missiles following recent Russian strikes on energy sites.

"I cannot guarantee that an independent Polish court won't order the government to escort such an aircraft down to hand (Putin) over to the court in The Hague," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday that it was "not nice" that Russian President Vladimir Putin might travel to EU member Hungary for talks on Ukraine. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would soon meet Putin in Budapest.