Plans for Trump-Putin Meeting Delayed Shortly Following Budapest Talks Announced
Currently exist "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has stated.
Recently Trump stated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital within two weeks to examine the war in Ukraine.
A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration said the two had had a "productive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".
The administration withheld additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.
Earlier Events
The US president had raised the possibility of 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 talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders indicating the president had pressured him to relinquish significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.
However, on this week Trump supported a ceasefire proposal supported by Kyiv and EU officials to freeze the war on the current front line.
"Freeze the lines where it stands," he said.
Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the present battle positions.
The Russian government was exclusively seeking "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, implying that halting hostilities would simply constitute a brief pause.
Political Perspectives
The "root causes" of the conflict demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a range of comprehensive conditions that include the acceptance of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its European partners.
The Ukrainian president stated talks regarding the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.
He also said the sole subject that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Weapons Discussions
Putin's spontaneous discussion with the US leader last Thursday occurred before rumors that the United States was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target Russian territory.
Zelensky asserted it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the missiles had emerged as a "significant input" in diplomacy", he added.
