Preparations for Putin-Trump Talks Delayed Days Following Budapest Negotiations Proposed
Currently exist "no plans" for US President President Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has declared.
This past week the US president stated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital soon to discuss the war in Ukraine.
A preparatory meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House stated the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a meeting was not "required".
The White House withheld further information on why the talks had been delayed.
Earlier Events
Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit over the phone with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Various sources suggested his talks with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with insiders claiming Trump had pushed him to cede significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Moscow.
However, on Monday Trump embraced a ceasefire proposal backed by Kyiv and EU officials to pause the war on the present positions.
"Leave it as is where it stands," he stated.
Russia has consistently objected against freezing the current line of contact.
Moscow was only interested in "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister commented on Tuesday, implying that halting hostilities would simply constitute a short-term truce.
Diplomatic Positions
The "root causes" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat said, using Moscow's terminology for a range of maximalist demands that encompass the recognition of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president stated discussions about the current lines were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.
He additionally stated the sole subject that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Strategic Factors
The Russian president's unplanned conversation with the US leader last Thursday occurred before rumors that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike inside Russia.
Zelensky said it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had proven to be a "significant input" in diplomacy", he added.