Preparations for Putin-Trump Talks Delayed Days After Hungarian Capital Negotiations Announced
There are "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has stated.
Recently Trump said he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to examine the war in Ukraine.
A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "productive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".
The White House did not share further information on why the talks had been put on hold.
Earlier Events
The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit over the phone with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Certain accounts suggested his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with insiders claiming the president had pushed him to relinquish significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Moscow.
Nevertheless, on this week the American president embraced a truce plan supported by Kyiv and European leaders to halt the hostilities on the existing battle lines.
"Freeze the lines where it stands," he stated.
Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against halting the existing front lines.
Moscow was only interested in "permanent resolution", Lavrov commented on Tuesday, implying that pausing conflict would merely represent a brief pause.
Political Perspectives
The "root causes" of the conflict needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of extensive requirements that include the recognition of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of the country – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.
Zelensky commented conversations concerning the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.
He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Strategic Factors
The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader recently occurred before rumors that the United States was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The talk about the missiles had proven to be a "strong investment" in diplomacy", he remarked.