According to the weekly "Der Spiegel" it will only be revealed whether the planned gathering of Donald Trump with Vladimir Putin in Hungary will bring the end of the war in Ukraine.
"In any case, he will rise the rank of host: a friend of Kremlin, Viktor Orbán," we read. "As a successful populist, Viktor Orbán has the gift to grasp hard political issues in optimistic slogans: his country, as said on Friday (17.10.2025) morning Prime Minister of Hungary, is during the war in Ukraine 'an island of peace'".
As noted by "Der Spiegel", at the minute it is certain that the gathering of Russian and US leaders in Budapest will be "a political triumph by the host, Viktor Orban, who leads the faction in Europe holding back aid for Ukraine. He may feel appreciated, which is beneficial to him due to the fact that spring elections are coming. The losers – it is clear – are the European Union, and, above all, countries specified as France, Germany and Poland," states the weekly magazine.
"Cynical Symbolism"
The paper "Sueddeutsche Zeitung" ("SZ") writes that Trump's gathering with Putin in Budapest would be highly convenient for the head of the Hungarian government.
"Possibly, however, he cares more about his own interests than about Kiev's interests," we read. The diary reminds me that Budapest has a history. It was here in 1994 that the Budapest Memorandum was signed, under which Ukraine undertook to surrender its atomic weapons.
"Now negotiations on Ukraine are to take place precisely where the foundations for the current geopolitical situation in which the country is located are laid. The symbolism itself would be cynical enough" - writes "SZ" and adds that Ukraine will most likely not have the right to sit at the table this time.
According to the newspaper, the Hungarian Prime Minister has repeatedly demonstrated his ability to transform geopolitical events into political benefits in the country.
"When the opposition coalition threatened to change the balance of power in Hungary before the last election of 2022, Orbán has fueled widespread fears of war to introduce himself as the sole guardian of peace. And successful. Now he'll do anything for the alleged peace summit. For example, he will ignore the arrest warrant issued by the global Criminal Court (ICT) against Putin, accused of kidnapping Ukrainian children to Russia," notes "SZ".
What matters is the effect
According to "Frankurter Rundschau", Trump's gathering with Putin will prove to be a success from the position of Ukraine and its European allies only if the president of the United States takes as firm a stand towards the Russian president as against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanjah and Hamas in the mediate East conflict.
"It is said by the fact that Trump has radically changed his position towards Kiev since he insulted the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenski at the beginning of the year. Moreover, he has been disappointed with Kremlin leader since the summit with Putin in Alaska. The counter-trargument is that Trump has so far allowed Putin to manipulate himself. Moreover, despite his anger, Trump did not increase the force on Moscow. And finally, Trump is always focused on making it look good. He could have ended the war in the mediate East, but he does not care about many unresolved and crucial further steps towards peaceful coexistence of the parties to the conflict," we read.
As the regional diary "Suedwest-Presse" from Ulm writes, the threat of delivering Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainians clearly made an impression in Moscow.
"It looks like Trump is now going to usage the method he utilized to force Israel and Hamas to suspend their weapons to accomplish the same consequence in Ukraine. His approach is ridiculed by professional diplomats, scientists, journalists and politicians. But it doesn't matter. If Trump yet succeeds through this method, no 1 will ask how he achieved it. It's all about the score, nothing else" - concludes the newspaper.
