Arrangements for Putin-Trump Meeting Shelved Days After Budapest Negotiations Announced

Trump and Putin
Putin and Trump previously convened in late summer in Alaska and the American leader had said additional discussions would take place in Budapest

Currently exist "no arrangements" for American leader President Trump to meet Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has declared.

Recently Trump indicated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to discuss the ongoing hostilities.

A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "constructive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was not "needed".

The White House declined to provide any more details on why the talks had been postponed.

Previous Developments

The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a day before meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Various sources suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar suggesting the president had pressured him to give up large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia.

However, on this week Trump endorsed a truce plan backed by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the current front line.

"Freeze the lines in its current state," he stated.

Russia has frequently resisted against freezing the present battle positions.

The Russian government was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister commented on Tuesday, indicating that pausing conflict would only amount to a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "root causes" of the war required resolution, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a range of comprehensive conditions that involve the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of the country – a non-starter for Ukraine and its Western allies.

The Ukrainian president commented discussions about the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.

He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday came ahead of speculation that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could possibly hit inside Russia.

The Ukrainian leader asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had turned out to be a "significant input" in international relations", he remarked.

Margaret Patton
Margaret Patton

A tech journalist and business strategist with over a decade of experience covering digital transformation and startup ecosystems.