Arrangements for Putin-Trump Talks Shelved Days Following Hungarian Capital Negotiations Suggested
Currently exist "no arrangements" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russia's Putin "in the near term", a White House official has declared.
Last Thursday Trump stated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital within two weeks to discuss the Ukraine conflict.
A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for recently - but the administration clarified the two had had a "productive" call and that a face-to-face session was not "required".
The administration withheld additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.
Previous Developments
The US president had discussed a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Various sources suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar claiming the president had pushed him to relinquish significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia.
Yet, on Monday Trump embraced a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the conflict on the current front line.
"Let it be cut in its current state," he remarked.
Russia has consistently objected against freezing the existing front lines.
The Russian government was only interested in "enduring stability", Lavrov stated on this week, suggesting that pausing conflict would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.
Negotiating Stances
The "underlying reasons" of the war required resolution, Lavrov stated, using Moscow's terminology for a series of extensive requirements that include the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a non-starter for Ukraine and its European partners.
The Ukrainian president commented conversations concerning the current lines were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.
He also said the sole subject that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
Putin's unscheduled call with Trump recently came ahead of rumors that the US was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target inside Russia.
Zelensky stated it was the weapons consideration that had compelled Moscow to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the missiles had turned out to be a "significant input" in international relations", he remarked.