Arrangements for Trump-Putin Meeting Delayed Days After Budapest Negotiations Announced
Currently exist "no preparations" for US President President Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has declared.
This past week the US president stated he and the Kremlin leader would hold talks in Budapest soon to examine the ongoing hostilities.
A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the White House said the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a meeting was no longer "required".
The administration did not share further information on why the talks had been put on hold.
Background Context
Trump had discussed a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Various sources claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with sources suggesting the president had urged him to cede significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Moscow.
Yet, on Monday the American president endorsed a truce plan backed by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the conflict on the current front line.
"Freeze the lines where it stands," he stated.
Russia has consistently objected against halting the current line of contact.
Moscow was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister stated on Tuesday, implying that freezing the front line would simply constitute a short-term truce.
Negotiating Stances
The "underlying reasons" of the war demanded attention, Lavrov said, using Moscow's terminology for a range of extensive requirements that involve the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its European partners.
The Ukrainian president stated conversations concerning the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "employing all tactics" to avoid diplomacy.
He also said the sole subject that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.
Weapons Discussions
Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader recently came ahead of speculation that the US was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could possibly hit inside Russia.
Zelensky asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The talk about the missiles had emerged as a "strong investment" in international relations", he added.