Arrangements for Trump-Putin Talks Postponed Shortly Following Budapest Negotiations Suggested
There are "no plans" for US President President Trump to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has stated.
Last Thursday Trump said he and the Russian president would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to address the war in Ukraine.
A initial discussion between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Lavrov was scheduled to occur recently - but the administration stated the two had had a "positive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".
The administration declined to provide additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been put on hold.
Previous Developments
The US president had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with Putin, a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Certain accounts claimed his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "heated exchange", with sources indicating Trump had urged him to relinquish significant territories of Ukraine's east as part of a agreement with Moscow.
Yet, on this week Trump supported a ceasefire proposal endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to freeze the hostilities on the current front line.
"Leave it as is the way it is," he remarked.
Moscow has consistently objected against halting the existing front lines.
Moscow was solely focused on "permanent resolution", Russia's foreign minister stated on Tuesday, implying that pausing conflict would only amount to a short-term truce.
Political Perspectives
The "root causes" of the hostilities demanded attention, the Russian diplomat said, using Moscow's terminology for a series of maximalist demands that involve the recognition of total Russian authority over the Donbas as well as the disarmament of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its Western allies.
Zelensky commented discussions about the front line were the "beginning of diplomacy" but that Moscow was "doing everything" to avoid diplomacy.
He additionally stated the only topic that could make Moscow "become engaged" was that of the delivery of distance-capable munitions to the Ukrainian military.
Strategic Factors
Putin's unscheduled call with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of reports that the United States was considering delivering long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target Russian territory.
Zelensky said it was the Tomahawks issue that had compelled Moscow to enter into dialogue. The discussion regarding the weapons systems had emerged as a "strong investment" in international relations", he remarked.