Bulgaria offers air corridor for Putin ahead of Budapest summit with Trump

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev has said the country is prepared to provide an air corridor for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plane, if necessary, to enable his arrival in Budapest for a meeting with US President Donald Trump.

The announcement was made on Bulgarian National Radio.

“When efforts are being made to achieve peace, it is only logical to provide all conditions to accomplish the goal,” Georgiev said. In response to a question about the corridor, he added: “How can a meeting take place if one of its participants cannot arrive?”

The proposed summit, aimed at addressing the ongoing war in Ukraine, is scheduled to occur within two weeks of October 16, 2025. Hungary, under Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, has pledged to ensure Putin's entry and exit from the country, despite the European Union's airspace restrictions on Russian aircraft. Orbán, a supporter of both Putin and Trump, has indicated that Hungary may withdraw from the International Criminal Court, which has issued an arrest warrant for Putin, to facilitate the meeting.

The summit's location in Budapest is symbolically significant, recalling the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, under which Ukraine relinquished its nuclear weapons in exchange for territorial guarantees later violated by Russia. The meeting is expected to focus on establishing peace and may have broader implications for European unity and international diplomacy.

As preparations continue, the international community watches closely, with some European leaders expressing concerns over the exclusion of Ukraine and EU officials from the discussions. 

By Vugar Khalilov