Arrangements for Trump-Putin Summit Postponed Days Following Hungarian Capital Talks Suggested
Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has declared.
Recently Trump indicated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the war in Ukraine.
A planning session between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was not "required".
The administration did not share any more details on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.
Earlier Events
Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit over the phone with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.
Some reports indicated his meeting with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders suggesting Trump had urged him to give up extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Russia.
Yet, on Monday Trump embraced a ceasefire proposal endorsed by Ukraine and EU officials to pause the war on the existing battle lines.
"Let it be cut in its current state," he stated.
Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the present battle positions.
The Russian government was solely focused on "enduring stability", Lavrov said on this week, suggesting that pausing conflict would simply constitute a brief pause.
Political Perspectives
The "fundamental issues" of the war required resolution, the Russian diplomat said, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of comprehensive conditions that encompass the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president commented conversations concerning the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.
He also said the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump last Thursday occurred before reports that the United States was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit deep into Russia.
The Ukrainian leader said it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had proven to be a "significant input" in international relations", he remarked.