So . . . Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are talking about getting together again, this time in Budapest. How nice!

But political issues aside, there seems to be an even thornier problem for Putin: logistics. While the straight-line distance from Moscow to Budapest is far shorter than it was to Alaska, he obviously can’t fly across the entire east-west length of Ukraine without the risk of being shot down as an enemy aircraft.

Alternatively, his plane could fly across Belarus (no problem), but then through NATO airspace above Poland and Slovakia. And that is currently verboten.

Even the longer southern Black Sea route, through Bulgaria and/or Romania — both EU members — involves restricted airspace. So any way you look at it, special dispensation would be required from the involved EU states to temporarily lift the existing ban against Russian aircraft.

Clearly, all of these countries want the war against Ukraine to end, and the threat of Russian expansionism to be reduced. So it is likely that a solution will be found and permission granted for Putin’s “Flying Kremlin” to cross EU airspace at some point in order to expedite the plans for the meeting. But getting everyone onto the same page has to look something like the proverbial Chinese fire drill.

It’s amusing, really — but not to Putin. The situation points out the extent of his isolation from a large part of the rest of the world, which in itself should be an incentive for him to finally offer some concessions and end his bid to reabsorb Ukraine into Russia.

But for nearly four years, nothing has worked — not isolation, not tariffs, not freezing of Russian assets. Let’s see what happens this time in Budapest, or perhaps some other location . . .

. . . or, for that matter, whether there will be a meeting at all. This was, after all, Putin’s idea — including the choice of Budapest as the venue — and might be just another stalling tactic.

Stay tuned.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
10/18/25