‘Maybe I’m Superstitious’ – Tusk Casts Doubt on Budapest for Zelensky–Putin Talks, Cites 1994 Memorandum

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Wednesday highlighted the historical irony of Budapest being considered as the host for US President Donald Trump’s proposed bilateral talks between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

As per Politico, the White House is considering Budapest for the talks, with Hungarian leader Viktor Orban – one of the few pro-Kremlin EU figures – also having ties to Trump.

Writing on X, Tusk noted the irony of choosing Budapest, where the 1994 Memorandum was signed – the deal in which Russia pledged to guarantee Ukraine’s territorial integrity in exchange for Kyiv giving up its Soviet-era nuclear arsenal.

“Budapest? Not everyone may remember this, but in 1994 Ukraine already got assurances of territorial integrity from the US, Russia and the UK. In Budapest.”

“Maybe I’m superstitious, but this time I would try to find another place,” he added.

In 1994, Russia, Britain, and the US became signatories to the Budapest Memorandum – an international treaty pledging, among other things, to “respect the independence and sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine.” 

The three countries also promised “to provide assistance to Ukraine… if Ukraine should become a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used.”

Other Topics of Interest

Zelensky Gives Officials One Week to Finalize Patriot Deal, Or Face Personnel ‘Conclusions’

Zelensky said Ukraine already has a political-level agreement to purchase additional Patriot air defense systems, but implementation has stalled at the legal, financial and technical stages. The president instructed officials to accelerate the process and warned that failure to deliver results could trigger personnel changes.

In exchange, Ukraine committed to eliminating all nuclear weapons from its territory – a promise that it fulfilled within two years.

Russia breached the treaty (and international law) when it illegally annexed Crimea and occupied parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014. Its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 represents an even greater violation.

On Monday, after multilateral talks with Zelensky and European leaders, Trump said the US would provide security guarantees for Ukraine if a peace deal is reached. While ruling out American boots on the ground, he suggested the guarantees could include air support.

Trump also claimed that Putin agreed to this possibility on Monday, after stepping out of the room to call his Russian counterpart.

However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that any talk of security guarantees for Ukraine without the involvement of Russia and its ally China was “a utopia, a path to nowhere.”