Arrangements for Trump-Putin Summit Postponed Shortly After Budapest Talks Suggested
Currently exist "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has announced.
Recently the US president indicated he and the Kremlin leader would meet in Budapest in the coming fortnight to discuss the war in Ukraine.
A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the administration stated the two had had a "constructive" call and that a meeting was no longer "required".
The administration declined to provide further information on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.
Background Context
Trump had discussed a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a day before hosting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Various sources claimed his meeting with Zelensky had been a "heated exchange", with sources indicating Trump had pushed him to relinquish significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia.
However, on Monday the American president supported a ceasefire proposal backed by Kyiv and European leaders to halt the hostilities on the present positions.
"Freeze the lines the way it is," he said.
Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against pausing the current line of contact.
The Russian government was only interested in "enduring stability", Lavrov said on Tuesday, indicating that freezing the front line would simply constitute a brief pause.
Political Perspectives
The "root causes" of the war needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat said, using Moscow's terminology for a set of comprehensive conditions that involve the acknowledgment of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its European partners.
Zelensky stated conversations concerning the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to avoid diplomacy.
He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the supply of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
Putin's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday occurred before rumors that the US was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike inside Russia.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the missiles had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he commented.