Arrangements for Putin-Trump Meeting Delayed Shortly After Budapest Talks Announced
Currently exist "no plans" for American leader Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the immediate future", a White House official has stated.
Last Thursday Trump stated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital in the coming fortnight to address the war in Ukraine.
A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his opposite number Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration said the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a meeting was not "necessary".
The White House withheld further information on why the talks had been postponed.
Previous Developments
Trump had raised the possibility of a Budapest summit during a call with the Russian leader, a just prior to meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.
Some reports indicated his meeting with Zelensky had been a "shouting match", with sources claiming Trump had pushed him to relinquish extensive regions of eastern Ukraine as part of a agreement with Russia.
Yet, on Monday the American president embraced a truce plan endorsed by Ukraine and EU officials to halt the hostilities on the present positions.
"Freeze the lines in its current state," he said.
Moscow has repeatedly pushed back against freezing the existing front lines.
The Russian government was only interested in "enduring stability", Lavrov said on this week, indicating that freezing the front line would simply constitute a brief pause.
Political Perspectives
The "underlying reasons" of the war required resolution, Lavrov emphasized, using Russian diplomatic language for a range of extensive requirements that encompass the recognition of complete Moscow control over the eastern region as well as the demilitarisation of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Kyiv and its European partners.
The Ukrainian president commented talks regarding the front line were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "doing everything" to prevent dialogue.
He further commented the sole subject that could cause Russia to "take notice" was that of the provision of extended-range arms to the Ukrainian military.
Strategic Factors
The Russian president's spontaneous discussion with the US leader last Thursday came ahead of speculation that the US was preparing to send extended-range cruise missiles to Ukraine that could possibly hit Russian territory.
Zelensky said it was the missile discussion that had forced Russia to participate in talks. The conversation concerning the missiles had emerged as a "significant input" in diplomacy", he commented.