Arrangements for Trump-Putin Summit Shelved Days Following Hungarian Capital Negotiations Announced
Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has stated.
This past week the US president indicated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Budapest soon to discuss the Ukraine conflict.
A planning session between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for recently - but the administration clarified the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was not "required".
The White House declined to provide further information on why the talks had been postponed.
Previous Developments
Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting during a call with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Various sources indicated his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar suggesting the president had pressured him to relinquish large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.
Yet, on Monday Trump embraced a peace initiative endorsed by Ukraine and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the current front line.
"Freeze the lines where it stands," he stated.
Russia has repeatedly pushed back against halting the existing front lines.
Moscow was exclusively seeking "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov stated on this week, indicating that pausing conflict would simply constitute a brief pause.
Negotiating Stances
The "fundamental issues" of the war needed to be addressed, Lavrov emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a set of maximalist demands that encompass the recognition of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of the country – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its European partners.
Zelensky said discussions about the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.
He additionally stated the only topic that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
The Russian president's unplanned conversation with the US leader recently preceded speculation that the United States was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could possibly hit Russian territory.
The Ukrainian leader said it was the Tomahawks issue that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The talk about the missiles had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he commented.