Trump says he is planning to meet Putin in Budapest

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Trump says he will discuss Ukraine war with Putin in Budapest

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would meet Vladimir Putin in Budapest to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine, following what he described as a “very productive” phone call with the Russian leader. “President Putin and I will then meet in an agreed upon location, Budapest, Hungary, to see if we can bring this ‘inglorious’ War between Russia and Ukraine to an end. President Zelenskyy and I will be meeting tomorrow, in the Oval Office, where we will discuss my conversation with President Putin, and much more,” the president said on Truth Social. The call, which a Kremlin aide said lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours, appeared to soften Trump’s tone towards Moscow and was followed by announcements that a delegation led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio would hold talks with Russian officials. Trump later told reporters he expected to meet Putin “within two weeks or so.” 

The US President suggested the success of recent diplomacy in the Middle East could help efforts to halt the fighting in Europe, and said talks touched on trade and the possible future supply of long-range weapons. “President Putin congratulated me and the United States on the Great Accomplishment of Peace in the Middle East, something that, he said, has been dreamed of for centuries. I actually believe that the Success in the Middle East will help in our negotiation in attaining an end to the War with Russia/Ukraine,” he wrote in his social media post. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the administration would provide “more details as soon as we can.” 

Later, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban confirmed the news posting on X: "I just got off the phone with President Donald Trump. Preparations for the USA-Russia peace summit are underway. Hungary is the island of PEACE!"

Fidesz finds loophole in Google’s EU ad ban

At the end of September, Google halted all political advertising in the European Union, a move that cut off one of Fidesz and the Hungarian government’s main communication tools, Telex reports. Yet several of their ads managed to slip through the filters. According to reports, Fidesz videos appeared under “telecommunication” and “corporate” categories, bypassing the ban through Google’s own classification algorithm. A Polish firm, Full Stack Experts (FSE), also emerged as a funding entity for some of the campaigns. Experts told us that FSE, a Google-accredited partner, sells access to Google’s marketing tools such as DV360, allowing clients to manage ads independently and making them solely responsible for targeting, payments, and compliance. Still, questions remain over how Fidesz was able to continue running political content after the ban took effect, and why YouTube later backdated some of these ads to earlier dates.

The ruling party used at least two separate advertising accounts, one directly linked to Fidesz and another tied to its parliamentary group, though in the latter case, it is unclear who financed the campaigns. Google, which placed the ads under a range of non-political categories despite featuring senior Fidesz politicians, has not responded to repeated questions about how or why this happened. Experts say one possible reason for the backdating is that Fidesz belatedly declared certain ads as political, while others suggest technical glitches. The confusion underscores the opacity of Google’s advertising system, which, instead of adapting to new EU transparency rules, the company shut down entirely. With databases of past ads now removed, researchers and journalists can no longer track who paid for political content, or how it was distributed across the bloc.

European Parliament to discuss Hungarian spy network next week

The European Parliament will discuss the Hungarian spy network in Brussels at its meeting next Wednesday, according to a decision by the EP's highest decision-making body, the Conference of Presidents. Belgian MEP Elio Di Rupo, former prime minister of his country, had already proposed setting up an ad hoc committee to investigate the matter after the first reports of the espionage scandal appeared, arguing that espionage against EU institutions seriously jeopardizes the integrity of the EU.

According to the investigation published earlier, several European Commission employees were approached, and attempts were made to rewrite Commission drafts by Hungarian intelligence agents who worked under the cover of the Hungarian Permanent Representation (ÁK) between 2015 and 2019. 

Orban to meet Trump in Washington 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said that he is going to meet U.S. President Donald Trump soon to discuss an economic agreement between the two countries. “There is a date, and the negotiating agenda is around 80%. When we can agree with the Americans on the remaining 20%, we will decide together with the Americans when to announce the meeting, and then it will happen,” Orbán told pro-government Hungarian outlet Mandiner.

Orban said Budapest would like to include the restoration of the tax treaty on the prevention of double taxation among other investment and economic issues; the U.S. in 2022 terminated its tax treaty with Hungary, effective January 2023. Although Orbán has not held a bilateral meeting with Trump since his presidency began, he has repeatedly signalled interest in an economic agreement. The Hungarian leader, who faces an election in 2026, has cultivated a strong personal relationship with Trump.