Arrangements for Putin-Trump Talks Postponed Days Following Budapest Talks Proposed
Currently exist "no preparations" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Putin "in the immediate future", a administration representative has announced.
Last Thursday the US president said he and the Russian president would meet in Hungary's capital soon to examine the ongoing hostilities.
A preparatory meeting between America's top diplomat Secretary Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration clarified the two had had a "constructive" call and that a meeting was not "required".
The White House declined to provide additional specifics on the reason the negotiations had been postponed.
Previous Developments
Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit over the phone with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Some reports suggested his talks with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with sources suggesting the president had pressured him to cede extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a deal with Moscow.
Yet, on this week the American president embraced a ceasefire proposal endorsed by Kyiv and European leaders to freeze the hostilities on the present positions.
"Let it be cut in its current state," he remarked.
Russia has repeatedly pushed back against halting the current line of contact.
The Russian government was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister stated on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.
Political Perspectives
The "fundamental issues" of the war needed to be addressed, Lavrov said, using Kremlin shorthand for a set of comprehensive conditions that encompass the recognition of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a non-starter for Ukraine and its EU supporters.
The Ukrainian president stated talks regarding 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 "take notice" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.
Military Considerations
The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with Trump recently occurred before rumors that the United States was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could potentially strike deep into Russia.
Zelensky asserted it was the missile discussion that had pressured the Kremlin to enter into dialogue. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "valuable contribution" in international relations", he remarked.