Plans for Trump-Putin Summit Delayed Days Following Budapest Talks Proposed

Trump and Putin
Trump and Putin last met in August in Alaska and the US president had said further talks would occur in the Hungarian capital

There are "no arrangements" for US President Donald Trump to confer with Russia's Vladimir Putin "in the near term", a administration representative has announced.

Recently the US president indicated he and the Kremlin leader would conduct negotiations in Hungary's capital soon to discuss the war in Ukraine.

A initial discussion between US Secretary of State Secretary Rubio and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov was due to be held recently - but the administration said the two had had a "positive" discussion and that a face-to-face session was not "required".

The White House did not share any more details on why the talks had been delayed.

Earlier Events

The US president had discussed a Budapest summit during a call with the Russian leader, a day before meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House.

Certain accounts suggested his meeting with the Ukrainian leader had been a "contentious discussion", with those familiar indicating the president had urged him to relinquish significant territories of eastern Ukraine as part of a deal with Moscow.

However, on this week the American president endorsed a truce plan endorsed by Kyiv and EU officials to pause the conflict on the existing battle lines.

"Leave it as is where it stands," he said.

Moscow has frequently resisted against pausing the current line of contact.

Moscow was only interested in "enduring stability", Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, suggesting that pausing conflict would simply constitute a short-term truce.

Diplomatic Positions

The "underlying reasons" of the conflict demanded attention, Lavrov said, using Moscow's terminology for a set of extensive requirements that include the acceptance of full Russian sovereignty over the Donbas as well as the military reduction of Ukraine – a impossible condition for Ukraine and its EU supporters.

Zelensky commented talks regarding the current lines were the "commencement of dialogue" but that Russia was "taking all measures" to prevent dialogue.

He also said the only topic that could cause Russia to "pay attention" was that of the provision of distance-capable munitions to Ukraine.

Military Considerations

The Russian president's unplanned conversation with the US leader last Thursday occurred before rumors that the US was planning to provide distance-capable weapons to Ukraine that could possibly hit Russian territory.

Zelensky asserted it was the Tomahawks issue that had pressured the Kremlin to engage in discussion. The talk about the weapons systems had emerged as a "valuable contribution" in negotiations", he added.

Michelle Bennett
Michelle Bennett

A passionate gamer and tech enthusiast with over a decade of experience in gaming journalism, specializing in indie games and industry trends.