Arrangements for Putin-Trump Summit Shelved Shortly After Budapest Talks Announced

Trump and Putin
Putin and Trump previously convened in August in the northern US state and the American leader had stated further talks would take place in the Hungarian capital

There are "no arrangements" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has declared.

Recently Trump stated he and the Russian president would meet in Hungary's capital soon to address the ongoing hostilities.

A planning session between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the White House stated the two had had a "productive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was not "required".

The White House declined to provide further information on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.

Previous Developments

The US president had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting over the phone with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukrainian President President Zelensky in the Oval Office.

Some reports indicated his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar indicating Trump had pushed him to give up extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.

However, on this week Trump embraced a truce plan supported by Kyiv and European leaders to pause the hostilities on the current front line.

"Leave it as is in its current state," he said.

Russia has frequently resisted against freezing the existing front lines.

The Russian government was solely focused on "enduring stability", Lavrov stated on Tuesday, indicating that freezing the front line would only amount to a brief pause.

Negotiating Stances

The "root causes" of the hostilities demanded attention, Lavrov said, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of extensive requirements that include the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the eastern region as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a unacceptable proposition for Kyiv and its European partners.

Zelensky stated conversations concerning the battle positions were the "start of negotiations" but that Russia was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.

He further commented the sole subject that could cause Russia to "become engaged" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.

Strategic Factors

The Russian president's unscheduled call with Trump recently came ahead of speculation that the US was considering delivering extended-range cruise missiles to Ukrainian forces that could potentially strike inside Russia.

Zelensky said it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to engage in discussion. The talk about the missiles had turned out to be a "strong investment" in negotiations", he added.

Jessica Anderson
Jessica Anderson

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