Arrangements for Trump-Putin Summit Postponed Days After Hungarian Capital Talks Announced
There are "no arrangements" for US President Donald Trump to meet Russian President Putin "anytime soon", a White House official has announced.
This past week the US president said he and the Russian president would hold talks in Hungary's capital soon to examine the Ukraine conflict.
A planning session between America's top diplomat Marco Rubio and his opposite number Foreign Minister Lavrov was due to be held this week - but the White House said the two had had a "productive" call and that a face-to-face session was no longer "necessary".
The administration did not share further information on the reason the negotiations had been delayed.
Previous Developments
Trump had raised the possibility of a Hungarian meeting over the phone with the Russian leader, a day before hosting Ukraine's President Zelensky in the Oval Office.
Certain accounts suggested his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with those familiar claiming the president had urged him to relinquish extensive regions of Ukraine's east as part of a settlement with Russia.
Yet, on this week Trump supported a truce plan supported by Kyiv and EU officials to freeze the hostilities on the current front line.
"Leave it as is in its current state," he remarked.
Moscow has frequently resisted against halting the current line of contact.
The Russian government was solely focused on "long-term, sustainable peace", Russia's foreign minister said on this week, implying that pausing conflict would merely represent a temporary ceasefire.
Negotiating Stances
The "root causes" of the war needed to be addressed, the Russian diplomat said, using Russian diplomatic language for a set of comprehensive conditions that involve the acceptance of complete Moscow control over the Donbas as well as the demilitarisation of the country – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.
Zelensky commented conversations concerning the battle positions were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Moscow was "employing all tactics" to evade negotiations.
He further commented the exclusive issue that could cause Russia to "take notice" was that of the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine.
Military Considerations
Putin's unscheduled call with Trump last Thursday occurred before speculation that the US was preparing to send long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine that could theoretically target deep into Russia.
The Ukrainian leader stated it was the missile discussion that had compelled Moscow to engage in discussion. The talk about the weapons systems had proven to be a "significant input" in diplomacy", he remarked.