Poland on Tuesday warned Russian President Vladimir Putin against flying through its airspace to attend a planned summit in Budapest, Hungary, with President Donald Trump regarding the war in Ukraine.
Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, told Radio Rozina that if Putin entered Polish airspace, his plane would be “forcibly landed” and he would be escorted to The Hague for prosecution over war crimes.
The International Criminal Court — or ICC — issued arrest warrants in March 2023 for Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s presidential commissioner for children’s rights, alleging war crimes related to the deportation of Ukrainian children from occupied areas.
“We cannot guarantee that an independent Polish court will not order a hypothetical plane carrying Putin to be brought down for the suspect’s transfer to The Hague,” Sikorski said.
“The fact that an EU [European Union] member state bound by the International Criminal Court invites President Putin to its premises is distasteful. It also shows that Hungary is positioning itself not as part of the West, but between the West and Russia.
“There are those who would like Ukraine to capitulate. Ukraine has no reason to do so.”
Poland is among the 123 ICC member states obligated to arrest Putin if he enters their territory. The United States is not a party to the ICC, and Hungary withdrew from the court in June.
“Peace will come when Putin understands that he cannot win the war,” Sikorski said. “Pressure must be exerted on Putin, not on Ukraine.”
To avoid flying over Ukraine, Russia’s delegation would need to pass through the airspace of at least one European Union member state. All EU nations except Hungary are ICC members.
Bulgarian Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev said Monday his country would allow a plane carrying Putin to fly through its airspace to facilitate the meeting with Trump.
“When efforts are made to achieve peace, if the condition for this is to have such a meeting, it is most logical that such a meeting should be mediated in [all] possible ways,” Georgiev told reporters in Luxembourg, according to the Bulgarian News Agency.
Trump confirmed Tuesday that his plan for a swift meeting with Putin was on hold because he doesn’t want it to be a “waste of time.”
The decision to hold off on the meeting, which Trump announced last week, was made after a call on Monday between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
No formal request has yet been made by Moscow to fly over Bulgaria, officials said. Bulgaria and Hungary border Serbia, a Russian ally.
Routing through Bulgaria would shorten Putin’s flight time; the only alternative would involve flying over the Mediterranean and entering Serbia via Montenegro or Albania.
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