Preparations for Trump-Putin Summit Shelved Shortly Following Budapest Talks Announced
There are "no preparations" for American leader President Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has stated.
Recently Trump indicated he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Budapest soon to examine the Ukraine conflict.
A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for recently - but the administration said the two had had a "positive" conversation and that a meeting was not "necessary".
The White House withheld further information on why the talks had been put on hold.
Previous Developments
Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting during a call with Putin, a day before meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.
Various sources indicated his meeting with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar indicating the president had urged him to relinquish extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia.
Nevertheless, on Monday the American president embraced a truce plan endorsed by Ukraine and European leaders to pause the conflict on the current front line.
"Let it be cut the way it is," he remarked.
Russia has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the present battle positions.
The Russian government was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister stated on Tuesday, indicating that pausing conflict would merely represent a short-term truce.
Negotiating Stances
The "underlying reasons" of the conflict demanded attention, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of maximalist demands that encompass the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a non-starter for Kyiv and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president stated talks regarding the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.
He further commented the exclusive issue that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
Putin's unscheduled call with Trump recently preceded reports that the United States was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could potentially strike inside Russia.
Zelensky stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The conversation concerning the weapons systems had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he remarked.