Arrangements for Trump-Putin Meeting Shelved Days After Budapest Negotiations Suggested
Currently exist "no plans" for US President President Trump to meet Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has announced.
This past week Trump said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest in the coming fortnight to discuss the ongoing hostilities.
A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration said the two had had a "constructive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was not "required".
The White House declined to provide further information on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.
Earlier Events
The US president had discussed a Budapest summit over the phone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.
Certain accounts indicated his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with sources claiming Trump had pushed him to give up large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Moscow.
Yet, on this week the American president endorsed a truce plan supported by Kyiv and EU officials to pause the war on the present positions.
"Freeze the lines in its current state," he said.
Russia has consistently objected against pausing the present battle positions.
The Russian government was solely focused on "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister commented on this week, implying that halting hostilities would only amount to a short-term truce.
Diplomatic Positions
The "fundamental issues" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, Lavrov emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of maximalist demands that encompass the acknowledgment of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a non-starter for Ukraine and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president stated talks regarding the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.
He further commented the only topic that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Military Considerations
Putin's unplanned conversation with Trump recently preceded rumors that the US was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could possibly hit deep into Russia.
Zelensky said it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had emerged as a "significant input" in negotiations", he remarked.