Arrangements for Trump-Putin Summit Shelved Days After Budapest Talks Suggested

Trump and Putin
Putin and Trump previously convened in late summer in the northern US state and the US president had indicated further talks would occur in the Hungarian capital

There are "no arrangements" for US President President Trump to meet Russian President Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has announced.

This past week the US president said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest soon to discuss the ongoing hostilities.

A planning session between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a meeting was not "necessary".

The administration did not share further information on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.

Earlier Events

The US president had discussed a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Certain accounts indicated his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with sources suggesting Trump had pushed him to relinquish large areas of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.

However, on Monday Trump supported a peace initiative backed by Ukraine and EU officials to freeze the war on the existing battle lines.

"Let it be cut in its current state," he stated.

Russia has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the present battle positions.

Moscow was solely focused on "enduring stability", Lavrov stated on this week, implying that pausing conflict would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.

Diplomatic Positions

The "root causes" of the war needed to be addressed, Lavrov emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of comprehensive conditions that involve the recognition of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

The Ukrainian president commented talks regarding the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.

He further commented the sole subject that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's unscheduled call with Trump recently occurred before reports that the United States was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target deep into Russia.

The Ukrainian leader said it was the Tomahawks issue that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The talk about the missiles had turned out to be a "strong investment" in negotiations", he added.

Alison Lopez
Alison Lopez

Lena is a seasoned automation engineer with over a decade of experience in industrial control systems and digital transformation.