Russia Eyes Progress on Ukraine, US Ties at Upcoming Budapest Summit

Russia anticipates that the upcoming summit in Budapest will lead to progress in resolving the Ukrainian war and provide an opportunity to discuss bilateral relations with the United States, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.

"First, we would like to make some progress on the Ukrainian settlement track. And to use this meeting to discuss our bilateral relations," he told journalists when asked about Moscow’s expectations from the Budapest summit, The Caspian Post reports, citing TASS.

On October 16, following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, US leader Donald Trump announced that the two leaders had agreed to meet soon in Budapest. Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov confirmed that Moscow and Washington would "without delay" begin preparations for a new summit between Putin and Trump, possibly to be held in the Hungarian capital. In response, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban ordered the formation of an organizing committee to facilitate the summit, stating that the preparations "began Thursday evening."