Plans for Trump-Putin Talks Delayed Days After Budapest Negotiations Proposed

Trump and Putin
Putin and Trump previously convened in late summer in Alaska and the American leader had stated additional talks would occur in Budapest

There are "no plans" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a White House official has stated.

This past week Trump said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital soon to address the ongoing hostilities.

A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was planned for recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "constructive" discussion and that a meeting was no longer "required".

The White House did not share any more details on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.

Previous Developments

The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting during a call with the Russian leader, a just prior to hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the White House.

Some reports claimed his talks with Zelensky had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar suggesting the president had pushed him to relinquish large areas of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Russia.

Yet, on Monday the American president embraced a truce plan backed by Ukraine and European leaders to pause the war on the present positions.

"Freeze the lines in its current state," he stated.

Moscow has frequently resisted against freezing the existing front lines.

Moscow was only interested in "enduring stability", Lavrov commented on Tuesday, suggesting that pausing conflict would only amount to a brief pause.

Diplomatic Positions

The "underlying reasons" of the war needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a range of comprehensive conditions that include the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a non-starter for Kyiv and its Western allies.

Zelensky commented conversations concerning the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.

He also said the sole subject that could make Moscow "take notice" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Weapons Discussions

Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader recently preceded rumors that the United States was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could theoretically target deep into Russia.

Zelensky stated it was the weapons consideration that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The talk about the missiles had turned out to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he added.

Madison Nunez
Madison Nunez

A tech journalist and digital strategist passionate about emerging technologies and their impact on everyday life.