Arrangements for Trump-Putin Meeting Shelved Shortly After Budapest Negotiations Announced
Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has stated.
Last Thursday Trump indicated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to address the war in Ukraine.
A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a meeting was not "needed".
The White House did not share any more details on why the talks had been postponed.
Earlier Events
The US president had discussed a Budapest summit over the phone with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Certain accounts indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar claiming Trump had pushed him to give up extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Russia.
Nevertheless, on this week Trump supported a truce plan supported by Ukraine and EU officials to pause the conflict on the present positions.
"Leave it as is in its current state," he remarked.
Moscow has consistently objected against freezing the current line of contact.
The Russian government was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Lavrov commented on Tuesday, indicating that pausing conflict would merely represent a brief pause.
Negotiating Stances
The "fundamental issues" of the hostilities required resolution, the Russian diplomat stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of maximalist demands that encompass the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its Western allies.
Zelensky commented talks regarding the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy.
He also said the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to Ukraine.
Weapons Discussions
Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday occurred before rumors that the United States was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could possibly hit deep into Russia.
Zelensky stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he remarked.