Preparations for Putin-Trump Meeting Postponed Days Following Hungarian Capital Talks Proposed
There are "no arrangements" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has announced.
Recently the US president indicated he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital soon to discuss the Ukraine conflict.
A planning session between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was planned for recently - but the administration said the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "necessary".
The administration declined to provide any more details on why the talks had been put on hold.
Previous Developments
The US president had discussed a Budapest summit over the phone with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Various sources indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with sources indicating Trump had pushed him to cede significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a settlement with Russia.
Yet, on this week Trump embraced a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to halt the war on the present positions.
"Let it be cut where it stands," he remarked.
Russia has frequently resisted against freezing the existing front lines.
Moscow was only interested in "enduring stability", Lavrov commented on this week, suggesting that pausing conflict would merely represent a brief pause.
Diplomatic Positions
The "fundamental issues" of the conflict demanded attention, the Russian diplomat stated, using Kremlin shorthand for a series of extensive requirements that include the acknowledgment of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a unacceptable proposition for Ukraine and its European partners.
Zelensky said discussions about the battle positions were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to evade negotiations.
He further commented the only topic that could make Moscow "pay attention" was that of the provision of long-range weapons to the Ukrainian military.
Weapons Discussions
The Russian president's unplanned conversation with the US leader last Thursday preceded reports that the United States was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike inside Russia.
Zelensky asserted it was the weapons consideration that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the missiles had proven to be a "significant input" in diplomacy", he commented.