BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Monday that it was "not nice" that Russian President Vladimir Putin might travel to EU member Hungary for talks on the war in Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would soon meet Putin in Budapest.
Kallas told reporters ahead of a gathering of European foreign ministers in Luxembourg that Trump's efforts to bring peace were welcome but that it was also important for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to meet the Russian leader.
"America has a lot of strength to pressure Russia to come to the negotiation table, if they use that then, of course, this is good if Russia stops this war," Kallas said.
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Putin faces an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court, which Hungary is in the process of leaving. Russia has repeatedly denied that its forces have committed atrocities in Ukraine and argues the ICC has no jurisdiction over it.
"Regarding Budapest, no, it's not nice ... to see that really a person put to the arrest warrant by the ICC is coming to a European country," Kallas said, adding that the "question is whether there is any outcome".
Zelenskiy said he would be willing to go to Budapest, if a trilateral meeting or a "shuttle diplomacy" format was proposed.
Kallas said she expected that a 19th package of sanctions against Russia would be adopted this week, but said that approval would not come on Monday.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said that there was no place for Putin in any European capital.
"The only place for Putin in Europe (is) in The Hague, in front of the tribunal, not in any of our capitals," he said ahead of the ministers' meeting.
Finland's Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen also raised concern about Putin's possible visit to an EU country.
"Let's see where the meeting will be held and in which format but it is of course evident that within the EU area a war criminal, such as Putin, should not be welcome," she told reporters.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that Putin's planned trip only made sense if it led to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire, while Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel told reporters "the most important thing is that we have a negotiating table".
Two people briefed on the discussion said Trump pushed Zelenskiy to give up swaths of territory to Russia during a tense meeting in Washington on Friday. After his meeting with Zelenskiy, Trump publicly called for a ceasefire on the current frontlines.
A Kremlin aide has said that Putin had reiterated to Trump in a call on Thursday his longstanding position on the state of the war, saying Russian troops had the strategic initiative along the whole front line.
(Reporting by Lili Bayer, Louise Rasmussen, Anne Kauranen and Geert De Clercq, writing by Inti Landauro; Editing by Toby Chopra and Alison Williams)
