Arrangements for Trump-Putin Summit Shelved Shortly After Hungarian Capital Talks Suggested

Trump and Putin
Putin and Trump previously convened in August in the northern US state and the American leader had said additional discussions would occur in Budapest

Currently exist "no arrangements" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has declared.

This past week the US president indicated he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Budapest within two weeks to address the war in Ukraine.

A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "positive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "needed".

The administration did not share further information on why the talks had been delayed.

Earlier Events

The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting during a call with Putin, a day before hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Some reports indicated his talks with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with insiders suggesting Trump had pressured him to cede extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Moscow.

Nevertheless, on Monday Trump endorsed a truce plan endorsed by Ukraine and European leaders to freeze the conflict on the current front line.

"Leave it as is the way it is," he remarked.

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

The Russian government was only interested in "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister said on this week, suggesting that halting hostilities would merely represent a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "root causes" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, Lavrov emphasized, using Moscow's terminology for a set of extensive requirements that include the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its Western allies.

Zelensky said discussions about the battle positions were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.

He additionally stated the only topic that could cause Russia to "take notice" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Strategic Factors

Putin's unplanned conversation with Trump recently occurred before rumors that the United States was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike Russian territory.

The Ukrainian leader stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had forced Russia to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in international relations", he remarked.

David Alexander
David Alexander

Elara Vance is an investigative journalist with over a decade of experience covering international affairs and political developments across Europe.