Arrangements for Trump-Putin Talks Shelved Days After Budapest Talks Announced
There are "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russia's Putin "anytime soon", a administration representative has stated.
Last Thursday Trump indicated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital soon to discuss the war in Ukraine.
A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the administration said 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 postponed.
Previous Developments
Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting via telephone with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the White House.
Certain accounts indicated his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with those familiar suggesting the president had pushed him to give up extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Russia.
However, on Monday the American president embraced a ceasefire proposal backed by Kyiv and EU officials to halt the conflict on the existing battle lines.
"Let it be cut in its current state," he remarked.
Russia has consistently objected against freezing the current line of contact.
The Russian government was exclusively seeking "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, suggesting that halting hostilities would simply constitute a short-term truce.
Diplomatic Positions
The "underlying reasons" of the war needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat said, using Moscow's terminology for a range of comprehensive conditions that involve the acknowledgment of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its European partners.
The Ukrainian president said talks regarding the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to prevent dialogue.
He further commented the only topic that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the delivery of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Military Considerations
Putin's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently came ahead of reports that the US was considering delivering distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could theoretically target deep into Russia.
Zelensky stated it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to engage in discussion. The talk about the missiles had proven to be a "significant input" in international relations", he commented.