Poland Warns Russia’s Dictator Against Crossing Its Airspace for Trump Summit

Poland warned Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday against travelling through its airspace for a summit in Hungary with U.S. President Donald Trump, saying it could be forced to execute an international arrest warrant if he did.

Bulgaria, however, would be willing to let Putin use its airspace if the summit is held in Hungary, Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev was quoted as saying.

Trump said last week he planned to meet Putin in Budapest as he tries to broker an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Putin, accusing him of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. Russia does not recognise the ICC’s jurisdiction and denies the allegations.

“I cannot guarantee that an independent Polish court won’t order the government to escort such an aircraft down to hand the suspect to the court in The Hague,” Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told Radio Rodzina.

The ICC warrant obligates the court’s member states to arrest Putin if he sets foot on their territory.