Pariah Putin faces humiliating 2,000 mile detour dodging wartorn Ukraine and raging Poland to get to crunch Trump talks

With no clear way through the highly monitored Baltic states or a fiery Poland, the dictator is set to take what he hopes will be a scenic route to reach Hungary.

The backdoor path is believed to have roughly doubled the distance, with the flight now stretching to an estimated 2,000 miles which could take up to five hours.

And if he wishes to land safely in the Budapest without facing the International Criminal CourtPutin will need to also avoid the looming arrest warrant on his head.

Trump is set to meet the Russian leader in the coming weeks following a “very productive” call on Thursday – as part of the Don’s latest bid to end the war in Ukraine.

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And the US is also expected to play a key role in getting Putin face-to-face with Trump for the high-stakes talks, John Foreman CBE said.

The former UK Defence Attaché to Moscow told The Sun: “I think we can draw various routes on a map – but the key point is that the US will put enormous pressure on smaller, Orthodox, Nato countries in the Balkans to allow Putin through under diplomatic flight clearance.”

The most likely route Putin will take will be a marathon stretch from Russia to Turkeythen to Greeceover North Macedonia and Serbiaand then finally to HungaryForeman suggested.

Going over Montenegro and then into Serbia from the Adriatic Sea would be a very similar alternative path.

And international security expert Anthony Glees agreed that Putin would have to take a drawn out route to reach Trump.

He outlined a similar flight to the war-ridden Black Sea before circling round a ring of countries reaching Hungary.

Highlighting the embarrassing nature of the trip, Glees told us: “It’s very humiliating for President Putin, and indeed humiliating for Hungary.

“They appear to have been told by Trump that that’s where the meeting has to take place.”

But there is an alternative route for Putin, Glees added.

The sanctioned leader could travel on a “sealed train” from Moscow to Budapest in order to dodge the clutches of Western allies.

In any case, all of Putin’s paths to Budapest appear to be “very circuitous”, and “make him look stupid”, Glees said.

But Foreman suggested that Putin may delight in using Budapest as a meeting point for the anticipated summit.

Admitting that it would “enrage some countries in Nato and the EU”, he claimed this was the point of picking Hungary and its Prime Minister Viktor Orban – Russia‘s biggest ally in the bloc.

“Putin will love spitting in their eye,” Foreman said.

Orban hailed Hungary on Friday as the “only place in Europe today where such a meeting could be held”.

Hungary has consistently been a thorn in the EU’s side – acting as Russia’s staunchest supporter in the union.

Kremlin pawn Orban has rallied against further sanctions on Putin, and previously stated that he will veto Ukraine’s accession to the EU.

Budapest has also claimed that they would not arrest Putin if he entered the country, despite Hungary being signed to the ICC.

But this year, Orban announced the withdrawal of Hungary from the international court.

The declaration came after he rolled out the red carpet for Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this year – despite the Israeli PM being targeted by an arrest warrant.

Bibi himself has also previously taken elongated routes to avoid signatories of the treaty – most recently skirting around several European countries to reach the UN in New York.

Although Hungary wants to pull out of the court, the country will remain part of the treaty until next year.

Hungary shares borders with seven countries – all of which are signatories of the ICC and legally obliged to comply with the court’s orders.

The tyrant is wanted on charges of ordering the illegal deportations of children from Ukraine’s occupied territories following his brutal invasion.

Dodging Ukraine‘s staunchest allies, Putin will also need to be wary of the Nato member states who have heavily sanctioned the despot.

Virtually all members of the defence pact have banned Russian aircraft from entering their airspace.

And all of Hungary’s border countries are Nato members apart from Austria and Serbia.

Although relations between Nato and Rusisa were already frosty, they have been plunged even further into the ice with Putin’s daring drone and jet incursions into European airspace last month.

Glees said that although the two were clear enemies, shooting down a plane with Putin on board would be too risky.

“Nato will decide that they should leave the plane intact, that they should let him get there in and out.

“But they won’t be very happy with it.”

Also an obstacle for Putin will be the European Union, who have imposed massive sanctions on the dictator and forbid Russian jets from flying in their airspace.

All of Hungary’s neighbours are EU members, apart from Serbia.

In addition to the arduous diversion Putin will have to take, he will also need to ensure security team is in tip-top shape.

Putting himself right in Europe’s backyard in a country surrounded by Nato and EU enemies, the despot will not be leaving the sights of his notorious “musketeers”.

The talks in Budapest mark a renewed push from Trump to end the war in Ukraine – amid speculation he will let Ukraine use game-changing US Tomahawk missiles in crunch talks with Zelensky on Friday.

Trump said: “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.”

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It will be the second time the pair meet during Trump’s second term, and the eighth overall.

Exactly when it will happen remains unclear.