Plans for Putin-Trump Meeting Postponed Days Following Budapest Talks Announced
Currently exist "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has stated.
This past week Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Hungary's capital soon to examine the war in Ukraine.
A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "productive" call and that a meeting was no longer "required".
The White House declined to provide any more details on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.
Background Context
Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting via telephone with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Various sources claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with sources suggesting Trump had pressured him to give up significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow.
However, on this week Trump supported a peace initiative endorsed by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the present positions.
"Freeze the lines in its current state," he stated.
Russia has frequently resisted against halting the existing front lines.
Moscow was solely focused on "enduring stability", Lavrov commented on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would simply constitute a brief pause.
Negotiating Stances
The "fundamental issues" of the war needed to be addressed, Lavrov stated, using Moscow's terminology for a range of maximalist demands that encompass the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president said discussions about the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.
He further commented the sole subject that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Weapons Discussions
The Russian president's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday occurred before reports that the United States was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit Russian territory.
The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in diplomacy", he commented.