Preparations for Trump-Putin Summit Postponed Shortly Following Budapest Talks Announced

Trump and Putin
Putin and Trump last met in August in Alaska and the US president had said further discussions would occur in Budapest

Currently exist "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russian President Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has stated.

Recently Trump indicated he and the Russian president would meet in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the ongoing hostilities.

A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House said the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "needed".

The White House declined to provide any more details on why the talks had been postponed.

Earlier Events

Trump had discussed a Hungarian meeting via telephone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports claimed his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar indicating the president had urged him to cede significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia.

Yet, on this week the American president supported a ceasefire proposal backed by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the conflict on the present positions.

"Let it be cut in its current state," he said.

Russia has consistently objected against halting the present battle positions.

The Russian government was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Lavrov said on Tuesday, suggesting that pausing conflict would simply constitute a brief pause.

Negotiating Stances

The "root causes" of the hostilities needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat said, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of maximalist demands that involve the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its European partners.

The Ukrainian president said conversations concerning the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to evade negotiations.

He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to Ukraine.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday preceded reports that the US was preparing to send extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target deep into Russia.

Zelensky asserted it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The discussion regarding the missiles had proven to be a "strong investment" in international relations", he remarked.

Natalie Jones
Natalie Jones

A tech strategist with over a decade of experience in digital transformation and innovation, passionate about exploring emerging technologies and their impact on industries.