Where Can Putin and Trump Meet? Non-Western Venues Being Considered

The International Criminal Court (ICC)'s warrant for the “arrest” of Russian President Vladimir Putin has sharply limited the number of countries suitable for hosting his upcoming summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, The Guardian reports.

The British newspaper notes that a return to Helsinki—site of their 2018 meeting—is off the table, as Finland is among the 125 states that have ratified the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty. Likewise, traditional diplomatic venues such as Switzerland, Austria, Iceland, Malta, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom are ruled out for the same reason.

The paper also dismisses the likelihood of historical sites such as Potsdam, Yalta, or Tehran, which hosted landmark WWII summits between Allied leaders, due to political and logistical complications.

“This may mean organizing the summit in Saudi Arabia or Turkey, where previous talks between Russia and Ukraine have taken place. Another potential option is Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is close to both Trump and Putin and has previously announced his intention to withdraw Hungary from the ICC,” the paper notes.

Earlier, Yuri Ushakov, aide to the Russian president for international affairs, confirmed that the Putin-Trump summit has been agreed upon and will take place in the coming days. He added that the parties have already settled on a location, though it will be disclosed later.