Arrangements for Trump-Putin Summit Postponed Days After Hungarian Capital Talks Announced
Currently exist "no plans" for US President President Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has declared.
Recently the US president stated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest within two weeks to examine the war in Ukraine.
A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was no longer "needed".
The administration withheld further information on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.
Previous Developments
Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting during a call with Putin, a day before hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Some reports suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with insiders suggesting Trump had urged him to cede significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.
Yet, on this week the American president embraced a peace initiative endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to halt the war on the present positions.
"Let it be cut in its current state," he remarked.
Russia has consistently objected against freezing the current line of contact.
Moscow was solely focused on "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister commented on Tuesday, suggesting that halting hostilities would simply constitute a brief pause.
Political Perspectives
The "root causes" of the war demanded attention, Lavrov stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of maximalist demands that involve the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its EU supporters.
Zelensky stated conversations concerning the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.
He also said the only topic that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with the US leader last Thursday occurred before rumors that the United States was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit deep into Russia.
Zelensky asserted it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he added.