Plans for Putin-Trump Meeting Delayed Shortly Following Hungarian Capital Talks Proposed

Trump and Putin
Trump and Putin last met in late summer in Alaska and the American leader had said further talks would take place in the Hungarian capital

Currently exist "no preparations" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has announced.

This past week Trump stated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital soon to discuss the ongoing hostilities.

A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for this week - but the administration said the two had had a "constructive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "required".

The administration withheld further information on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.

Previous Developments

Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit over the phone with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Various sources suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with sources suggesting Trump had urged him to relinquish extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Russia.

However, on this week Trump supported a ceasefire proposal endorsed by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the conflict on the current front line.

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

Russia has consistently objected against freezing the current line of contact.

Moscow was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Lavrov stated on Tuesday, suggesting that freezing the front line would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.

Political Perspectives

The "underlying reasons" of the war needed to be addressed, Lavrov emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of maximalist demands that involve the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its European partners.

Zelensky said conversations concerning the front line were the "start of negotiations" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.

He further commented the only topic that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the supply of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday preceded speculation that the US was planning to provide extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target deep into Russia.

Zelensky asserted it was the weapons consideration that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The talk about the missiles had turned out to be a "strong investment" in international relations", he commented.

Anne Bean
Anne Bean

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