It is perfectly possible, but landlocked Hungary is not the easiest destination to get to for a Russian president who rarely sets foot abroad and has not travelled to the EU for years.
“For now, of course, it’s not clear,” says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “What we do have is the willingness of the presidents to hold such a meeting.”
Days after Putin ordered Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU froze the assets of both its leader and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
A blanket ban was also imposed on all Russian aircraft flying through the airspace of all 27 EU countries. Hungary and many of its neighbours are Nato member states too.
Putin has also been accused by the International Criminal Court of war crimes of unlawfully deporting and transferring of Ukrainian children to Russia.
So there are complications, although Hungary believes they can all be sorted out. Hungary is in the process of pulling out of the ICC anyway.
Putin and Hungary’s Viktor Orban, probably his closest ally in the EU, have already discussed the planned summit over the phone, and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has told reporters “we will of course ensure that he can enter Hungary, hold successful talks here, and then return home”.