Preparations for Putin-Trump Summit Delayed Shortly After Budapest Talks Proposed
Currently exist "no arrangements" for American leader Donald Trump to meet Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has declared.
Last Thursday Trump said he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Budapest within two weeks to examine the Ukraine conflict.
A planning session between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was planned for this week - but the White House clarified the two had had a "constructive" conversation and that a face-to-face session was not "necessary".
The administration did not share further information on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.
Previous Developments
The US president had discussed a Budapest summit via telephone with Putin, a just prior to hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Various sources indicated his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "shouting match", with sources suggesting the president had pressured him to cede significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.
Yet, on this week Trump supported a peace initiative endorsed by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the war on the present positions.
"Let it be cut where it stands," he stated.
Russia has consistently objected against pausing the existing front lines.
The Russian government was solely focused on "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister commented on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would only amount to a temporary ceasefire.
Negotiating Stances
The "fundamental issues" of the hostilities required resolution, the Russian diplomat emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of maximalist demands that involve the recognition of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its Western allies.
The Ukrainian president said talks regarding the front line 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 Ukraine.
Military Considerations
Putin's unplanned conversation with Trump recently occurred before reports that the US was planning to provide long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target Russian territory.
Zelensky stated it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to participate in talks. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he remarked.