Arrangements for Trump-Putin Summit Shelved Shortly After Budapest Negotiations Proposed
Currently exist "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has stated.
This past week Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to discuss the war in Ukraine.
A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required".
The White House did not share any more details on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.
Earlier Events
The US president had discussed a Hungarian meeting over the phone with the Russian leader, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the White House.
Certain accounts suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar indicating the president had pressured him to relinquish significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Moscow.
Yet, on this week the American president embraced a peace initiative supported by Kyiv and EU officials to freeze the conflict on the existing battle lines.
"Let it be cut where it stands," he stated.
Moscow has consistently objected against halting the existing front lines.
Moscow was only interested in "enduring stability", Lavrov said on this week, implying that halting hostilities would simply constitute a brief pause.
Political Perspectives
The "fundamental issues" of the war required resolution, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of maximalist demands that encompass the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its EU supporters.
Zelensky said conversations concerning the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.
He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.
Military Considerations
The Russian president's unplanned conversation with Trump recently came ahead of rumors that the United States was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit inside Russia.
Zelensky stated it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he remarked.