Arrangements for Trump-Putin Summit Postponed Days After Budapest Negotiations Proposed
Currently exist "no arrangements" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has announced.
Last Thursday the US president said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the war in Ukraine.
A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for recently - but the administration stated the two had had a "productive" call and that a meeting was no longer "required".
The administration did not share additional specifics on why the talks had been delayed.
Previous Developments
Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit over the phone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Various sources claimed his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with sources suggesting Trump had urged him to give up extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Moscow.
Yet, on Monday Trump supported a peace initiative backed by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the existing battle lines.
"Leave it as is the way it is," he remarked.
Moscow has consistently objected against pausing the present battle positions.
Moscow was only interested in "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister commented on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.
Diplomatic Positions
The "underlying reasons" of the conflict required resolution, Lavrov stated, using Russian diplomatic language for a series of extensive requirements that involve the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president said discussions about the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.
He further commented the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the supply of extended-range arms to Ukraine.
Weapons Discussions
The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently occurred before speculation that the United States was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target inside Russia.
Zelensky said it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to engage in discussion. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had proven to be a "strong investment" in diplomacy", he added.